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THE CHILDREN 

IN THE 

LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 


BOOKS BY AMANDA M. DOUGLAS 


THE HELEN GRANT BOOKS 

Illustrated 

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ALMOST AS GOOD AS A BOY. Illustrated by Bertha G. 

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BOSTON 






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An odd little girl had appeared. — Page 4 


LITTLE RED HOUSE SERIES 


THE CHILDREN IN THE 
LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 


BY 

AMANDA M. DOUGLAS 

M 


ILLUSTRATED BY LOUISE WYMAN 



BOSTON 

LOTHROP. LEE 5t SHEPARD CO. 



Published, August, 1912 


Copyright, 1912, by Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Co. 


All Rights Reserved 


The Children in the Little Old Red House 


IRorwoot! .‘tftress 
Berwick and Smith Co. 
Norwood, Mass. 

U. S. A. 


ft 

£ CJ. A 3 1 2 2 8 3 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER 

I. 

The Lane and the Children 




PAGE 

I 

II. 

Amaryllis 




16 

III. 

The Mother of Eight . 




3 i 

IV. 

Dreaming in the Twilight . 




4 7 

V. 

A Day of Happenings 




68 

VI. 

A Picnic for Both Parties . 




87 

VII. 

Mr. Mann’s Visit 




105 

VIII. 

The Time of Their Lives 




122 

IX. 

In a Hospital Ward 




141 

X. 

How Laurel Set out to Find Chan 



158 

XI. 

The Crown of Hope 




177 

XII. 

A Song in the Night 




197 

XIII. 

Was It a Crown or a Cross? 




216 

XIV. 

Chan’s Legacy .... 




241 

XV. 

Mr. Mann’s Thanksgiving Party 




257 

XVI. 

Making a Dream Come True 




283 

XVII. 

A Fairy Godfather 




299 

XVIII. 

A Wedding and a Christmas 




318 



ILLUSTRATIONS 


An odd little girl had appeared (page 4) 


Frontispiece 


FACING 

PAGE 


“Now, YOU GIRLS MUST SET THE TABLE” 

Sent the little girl fast asleep . 

“Would the little boy sing?” he asked . 

They were all marshaled out and seated in due 

ORDER 

“Merry Christmas ! ” laughed their new father 


92^ 
168 / 

194 

268^ 
336 ^ 



THE CHILDREN 

IN THE 

LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 

CHAPTER I 

THE LANE AND THE CHILDREN 

The man jogging along leisurely reined his 
horse up with such a sudden jerk that Bonnie 
looked around with reproachful eyes. The road 
had been a rather lonely one except for the beau- 
tiful old trees standing at the roadside, tall Lom- 
bardy poplars and graceful willows that had been 
growing for years in nature’s own fashion. This 
had once been just a lane to cut off a rather long 
point in the road, but it had grown into a recog- 
nized thoroughfare at this period. The man had 
not been through it before, and now a curious 
sound startled him, the sound of a wailing chorus, 
and he espied a small cottage ahead of him, a little 
old house that had once been painted red, but was 
now weather-beaten and dingy. 


2 


THE CHILDREN IN THE 


It was a story-and-a-half house, with the gable- 
end to the street. There was a door in the middle, 
with a window on either side, and one in the 
gable above. There was a large flat stone for a 
stoop, just a step down from the door-sill, and it 
left not much more than a comfortable sidewalk. 
A grand old cherry-tree shaded it, and there was 
a bed of bright yellow marigolds. 

But what made the man halt so suddenly was 
a group of children huddled together, crying and 
wailing and rocking to and fro, and from the 
noise you would have said there were at least a 
dozen. 

He jumped from his light wagon, just said, 
“ Whoa, Bonnie, old girl,” and walked up to them 
with a face of sympathy. 

“ Children, what is the matter?” 

They huddled closer until their heads looked like 
a cushion. 

“ What is the matter? ” and now the expression 
was anxiety. 

They were a tousled group and not over clean, 
and they looked up in a rather wild fashion. Then 
with one voice in a most heartrending tone : 

“ Oh, our mother’s gone away and left us all 
alone ! ” 

“ All alone ! ” He gave a mirthful laugh. 


LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 3 

“ Why, there must be at least half a dozen of 
you ! ” 

“ There ain’t only four. Prim an’ Goldie’s pick- 
ing beans, an’ Linn’s down to the Briggs’s, an’ 
Rilla’s gone to the store.” 

“ Great Scott ! How many in all ? ” 

“ There’s eight and mother. But she’s gone 
away, an’ if she shouldn’t ever come back ” 

There was another wail. 

He laughed, it seemed so very funny. He was 
a rather stout, fresh-looking man with a decidedly 
jolly face, clean-shaven, and what seemed to make 
it merrier was a big dimple in one cheek. His 
eyes had a laugh in them, too, and were a sort 
of grayish-green. 

“ Whew ! ‘ How many — Seven in all, she 

said,’ ” quoting from Wordsworth. 

“ I said eight, and I ain’t a she — I’m a boy. 
And my name’s Tip; ” indignantly. 

He raised himself from a pile of heads. The 
tears had made rivulets down a dirty face, but the 
eyes were still lustrous with them. 

“ And where has your mother gone ? ” 

“ She went to a fun’ral. Somebody died — they 
always do at a fun’ral. She was cornin’ home at 
noon and here it’s ’most night. An’ what if she 
should die an’ never come back ! ” 


4 THE CHILDREN IN THE 

The howl burst forth again equal to any Irish 
banshee. 

“ Children/’ with an air of authority in his 
tone, “ you’re too young to be borrowing trouble 
that way.” 

“ But she never went away so far before. An’ 
there’s accildents ” 

“ Did you have any dinner? ” thinking to change 
the tone of apprehension. 

“ Oh, yes. Rilla often gets dinner. Now she’s 
gone down to the store and she took the eggs. 
She’ll get mother when she comes in the train. 
An’ Goldie’s going to make a johnny-cake an’ cook 
some corn.” 

“ I just don’t want any supper if mother doesn’t 
come ! There, now ! ” — bringing his little fist 
down on his knee — “ I’m not going to eat a mouth- 
ful till she does, if it’s clear to Christmas ! ” 

“ My lad, there’d be nothing left of you,” and 
the man gave his merry laugh again. “ Hello ! 
Here’s another.” 

An odd little girl had appeared, with a mop of 
red curly hair, considerably sunburned and 
freckled, with a plump body, and looking as if she 
were not much given to trouble, if that was what 
made Tip thin. She stopped in amazement and 
looked from the children to the man. 


LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 5 

“ We’ve been tellin’ him about mother. An’ we 
cried ” 

“Oh, Tip, you must have been born crying!. 
You’re good for a drouthy time! And what a 
dirty lot ! Oh, do go and get washed ! I’m 
ashamed of you ! ” 

“ Where did your mother go — to what place, I 
mean?” he asked of the newcomer. 

“Well, the train goes to Bridgeville, then you 
have to walk to Tory Corner. A great lot of 
Tories lived there in war times. She’s a queer 
old lady — was grandmother’s sister. Mother 
wouldn’t have gone only they sent particular word. 
She thought she’d be home by noon.” 

“An’ she isn’t!” Tip dug his knuckles into 
his eyes and sniffed. “ An’ if she was your 
mother and didn’t come home I guess you’d cry 
too, when she’s the most beauti fullest mother in 
the world ! ” 

This was addressed to the man, who smiled hu- 
morously. 

“ Please don’t mind them, Mr. Man. You’re 
very good to — to ask about her. Oh, children, 
do go in and wash up! You are a disgrace to 
the country. It’s lucky we live on the back road. 
People don’t often come this way. Mother’s all 
right, I know.” 


6 THE CHILDREN IN THE 


The voice was very cheerful and he thought the 
face quite pretty. 

“ Well, I don’t see that I can be of any use to 
you, so I’ll drive round by the store. I’d like to 
see your mother.” 

“ Thank you.” She made a droll little curtsy, 
and he sprang into the wagon. 

“ A funny lot! ” he said to himself. “ Eight of 
them, and one little mother to feed them. I don’t 
know how many ravens there are that the Lord 
feeds, but the robins have only four or five in a 
nest. Gid-dap, Bonnie.” 

“ Isn’t he just splendid ! ” Marigold’s eyes dis- 
tended in admiration. “ Oh, I’ll tell you, he’s 
playing he was our father and he’s going to bring 
mother to us. I’d like just such a father who had 
a face full of smiles. They don’t often. And 
we’d go and live in a nice house and have some 
clothes the neighbors didn’t send in and mother 
wouldn’t have to patch, and spandy new shoes 
that fitted you. And I’d choose one of them 
pretty woolly caps that keep your ears so nice and 
warm in winter. And Linn could have a blue suit 
like Charley Deane’s. And we’d have real sweet- 
cake every night for supper and we wouldn’t have 
to sell our turkeys at Thanksgiving.” 


LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 7 

Marigold had talked herself out of breath. The 
children listened in wide-eyed wonder. 

“ But it ain’t real,” declared Chan. “ There 
ain’t no fairies nowadays and Santa Claus is a 
fraud.” 

“No, he ain’t, either!” declared Tip angrily. 
“ S’pose it is your mother if your stocking’s full 
and you didn’t see it put in ” 

“ Chan, go and pick me up a lot of chips. I’ll 
boil some corn and make a johnny-cake and have 
it all nice and hot when mother comes. And, 
Prim, get the children washed up.” 

The wagon was out of sight and the children 
went out to the back shed where the washing 
paraphernalia stood. 

As for the man, he drove along slowly, 
chuckling now and then, the episode had been so 
funny. Yet he could not laugh heartily alone. 
What did a mother do with eight children? “ The 
beautifullest mother.” He had never known any- 
thing about a mother. For his had died before he 
could remember, and his childhood had been spent 
with a careless, rather easy-going stepmother 
much given to neighborly gossip. When he was 
ten, a neighbor had taken him to wait on an 
invalid son, to read to and amuse him. This had 
given him a fondness for books. Then on the 


8 THE CHILDREN IN THE 

death of the son he had been bound out to a 
farmer and had run away from the harsh treat- 
ment, begged, worked his way to the city, sold 
papers, carried parcels, swept out stores and side- 
walks until the owner of a factory was attracted 
by his pluck and earnestness and gave him a 
chance to learn a trade. He proved trusty, in- 
genious, honest. It was a factory of small metal 
articles often patented until superseded by some 
newer method. He lived prudently. He went to 
night school and improved himself in many ways. 
And when he was twenty- four his employer died, 
leaving him quite a business interest, as neither 
of his sons wanted it. He boarded simply, he 
fitted up a part of his office, where he kept books 
and papers, worked out models, read, and pushed 
himself along to success. 

He was twenty-eight when he married. He had 
begun to dream of home, wife, and children. He 
could afford them now. He chose an industrious 
girl, an orphan like himself. She had saved up a 
little money and wanted a house of her own even 
if it left them quite in debt. They found the 
house, rented out part of it until they had it clear. 
He was charmed with her prudence. She did 
dressmaking and went on with her business. 

After a little he found it was not the sort of 


LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 9 

home he had in his mind. She lived in the 
kitchen. The little dining-room was a workroom 
where two girls came to sew. She made him take 
his lunch, and often a poor lunch it was. He went 
out for a cup of coffee and sometimes a good bit 
of steak. Occasionally he proposed to read to 
her in the evening. She was nowise intellectual. 
And after awhile she said rather fretfully : “ I 
wish you would read to yourself, Ad. You dis- 
turb me when I am planning what I shall do.” 

He fell into the habit of going back to his office, 
reading or writing and sometimes dreaming. It 
would be better by and by. So he made a great 
effort and cleared the house and proposed they 
should live a broader life, have in pleasant friends, 
go out now and then to a play, or take a journey. 

Why should they waste their time and money on 
such foolish things? There was old age to pro- 
vide for. She didn’t mean to end her days in the 
poorhouse ! 

He had some lonely, disappointed hours. Then 
he began to take an interest in the hands. His 
foreman had three attractive children and he en- 
couraged them to come to the office. He was so 
fond of children. 

He gained courage enough to propose that they 
adopt a child. Mrs. Mann was aghast ! 


IO THE CHILDREN IN THE 


“ Well, I should think, Ad, you must be crazy ! 
The idea of bothering with other folks’ children 
when we’re so fortunate as to have none of our 
own. I couldn’t be such an idiot ! ” 

So he dropped into a sort of double life, had a 
dream house and dream children as sweet and dear 
as the little Ross children. He took them out sail- 
ing on Saturday afternoons, to pretty shows and 
harmless plays. He bought them toys and clothes, 
they sat on his knee and put their fond warm arms 
about his neck, actually kissed him with the sweet- 
est lips. When Christmas-tide came how merry 
they were, and noisy, too! 

He used to stray about the streets occasionally 
at night and unearth some newsboy, or perhaps 
homeless waif, and give him a good supper or buy 
him some shoes or a warm coat. It helped keep 
the fire of love alight in his heart. The Ross 
children gained courage enough to climb up in his 
lap. They had such a cozy home, though it was 
plain, and the furniture well worn. And oh, what 
a welcome he always had ! 

And almost without any warning Mrs. Mann 
was called to lay down her work and rest from 
her labor. Only a few days in which she was 
mostly unconscious, and it was a great shock to 
him, for she had always been so well and stirring. 


LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE u 


Had she really enjoyed her life? She could have 
had it very different. 

He gave away most of the furniture and of- 
fered the house for sale. It had never been a 
home to him. There were no tender recollections 
about it. 

Some months later a pretty country house had 
to be sold, on which he held a mortgage for nearly 
its value. There were two acres of ground. 
Grafton was one of the home settlements, that 
spring up so around the country, near railroad 
stations. After some consideration he determined 
to start a new life. He was tired of these years of 
toil and unsatisfactory living. He would take 
John Ross for a partner; he could not have a 
more upright man. And he recalled something 
the man had once said : 

“ I’ve a life insurance if anything should hap- 
pen, and I am putting a little in a building loan. 
But I shall not have a house in the city. I shall 
go out in the suburbs where I can have a little 
garden plot and some flowers to cheer my old 

_ a 

age. 

Adonijah Mann kept thinking of this as he in- 
spected the really pretty village. There were two 
straight, long streets and several crossways. It 
was not laid out in city lots; some plots had four 


i2 THE CHILDREN IN THE 


or five acres; others, not more than two. All 
along the street young trees had been set out — 
there was a plank sidewalk. At the end of one 
street there was a small park with a chapel at 
one side. Several magnificent trees were in this 
plot. Indeed, there were numbers of fine trees 
about, which took off the crudeness of a new place. 

This particular house stood back about a hun- 
dred feet from the street. The lawn was in a 
circle with a wide drive around it that also went 
to the rear, where was a barn and carriage house. 
A capacious hennery, and a long strip of land 
with fruit trees and garden spot. Farther back 
on a rise of ground was a space of forest trees 
with great clumps of rhododendrons. 

Even in late March it looked enchanting to him. 
The trees really were budding, there were tufts of 
green grass, and birds were flying about, calling 
to each other. The man’s heart was filled with 
wonder and such a throb of gratitude that he 
hardly knew himself. To have all this — to begin 
a new life in a clean, beautiful, wholesome place! 
Why, it was like his ideas of heaven! 

And the upshot of it was that he bought the 
place, installed John Ross in his new position, took 
Mrs. Ross and the children up to Grafton for their 
May holiday week, for he wanted a woman’s opin- 


LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 13 

ion of things in general. And Mrs. Ross could 
give a home such a cozy, livable look, which his 
former home never had. The former owner had 
taken what household goods he wanted and sold 
the rest. Mrs. Ross brought some comfortable 
things out of the garret and discarded some of the 
stiff articles that had been considered high art; 
and straightened, the place looked really inviting. 

“ I wish it was so you could come here and 
live/' he said longingly. “ I think we could all 
get on so nicely. And I am so fond of the chil- 
dren. You must bring them up in the real Vaca- 
tion.” 

“ Thank you,” and she smiled. Then, with a 
sudden accession of courage, “ Mr. Mann, you 
ought to marry again. Some nice woman — yes, 
there ought to be children, too.” What a pity all 
his younger years should have been wasted! 

There was a general factotum about the place. 
Dan, whose home was at Denby, where his 
mother and his paralyzed wife lived. He went 
over nearly every day to see them, but the Ged- 
neys had wanted him to stay about nights. There 
were Bonnie, and Jim, the great watchdog, who 
was only let loose at night to frighten away the 
marauders, and Bitsy, the funny, ugly little Scotch 
terrier, and Pilot, the beautiful collie, to say noth- 


i 4 THE CHILDREN IN THE 

ing of the chickens and the doves and the mag- 
nificent peacock and his plain little hen. So Mr. 
Mann was busy at first getting acquainted with 
everything in his wonderful new world. 

He thought now and then of Mrs. Ross’s re- 
mark about a wife. If she had a sister! And 
he thought of the children, too, but he would like 
them quite large so they could be companionable. 

He was very happy with the spring work, the 
wonderful bloom and fragrance of everything. 
Why, he had no idea the world was so beautiful! 
He spent hours just looking at it, and could never 
have put his joy into words. He almost hated 
the two days he spent in the city. Mrs. Ross 
had found him a nice housekeeper. Her two sons 
were married and settled, but she insisted that 
while she was well and able she would be happier 
earning her own living. She was a fine cook and 
neat without being fussy. 

Nearly every afternoon he took a drive around 
country ways, finding new delights everywhere. 
The Rosses came up and spent a fortnight. Oh, 
what a good time they had! But the children 
went every summer to their grandmother’s, a little 
seaside place where they bathed and played in the 
sand, and came home brown and rosy, ready for 
another year’s schooling. 


LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 15 

But he was more lonesome than ever. He went 
driving round, he called on his neighbors, he even 
strayed down into the little town of Denby, that 
seemed very slow and primitive. And this after- 
noon he found his way through this little old lane 
and saw the crying children. 


CHAPTER II 


AMARYLLIS 

So Mr. Adonijah Mann jogged along, thinking 
of the eight children. He wondered if the mother 
wouldn’t like to give away two, one would be so 
lonesome. Now and then he chuckled as he 
thought of their wailing. And then he smiled as 
he recalled the “ beautifullest mother.” What 
would she be like ? Mrs. Ross was rather tall and 
slim. There were some nice-looking mothers who 
sat out on the porches at Grafton, or swung in the 
hammocks, or held a baby. The mother of eight 
wouldn’t have any time for such indulgences. 
What a lot of stockings there would be to mend ! 
He had seen Mrs. Ross darning them in her dainty 
fashion. 

He turned into Denby. It had a rather thrift- 
less, seedy aspect. The houses needed painting, 
the fences needed mending. It looked odd to 
see the woodpile on what seemed to be the side- 
walk. One or two women he passed were doing 
a belated washing and stopped to stare at him. 

16 


THE LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 17 

Here sat an old man dozing. Children were play- 
ing in the dirt. Then the houses were a little 
closer. There was a shoemaker, a blacksmith, a 
wheelwright, and the ordinary country store, 
with some men sitting outside with their chairs 
tilted, and a long watering trough at one 
side. 

A little girl came out of the store with a basket 
on one arm, and a crumpled bit of paper in her 
hand which she appeared to be intent on decipher- 
ing. She crossed over to the other side of the road, 
which was bordered by trees, and was quiet, seem- 
ing more retired. She stood still and read her 
note. Then she saw the man in the wagon had 
halted as if he wanted to speak. 

He did not quite know what to say, but he had 
a premonition she was one of the eight. She was 
clean and tidy, her hair braided in two thick tails 
below her wide-brimmed straw hat, a plump, 
cheerful-looking body, yet with a very earnest 
face. 

“ Can you tell me — that is ” — blundering in an 
unusual fashion — “ when the train will be 
in?” 

“ Why — any time now ; it is a little late, I think. 
Were you expecting some one?” 

She glanced up with a pretty eagerness. 


1 8 THE CHILDREN IN THE 


“ No. That is — wasn’t your mother coming on 
that train?” 

“ My mother ! ” She looked up in surprise. 
“ Yes, she was to come, but I had this letter,” 
holding it up in her hand. “ She can’t come until 
to-morrow. It is something about a will. But — 
how did you know? ” 

“ I was going by and saw the children. They 
were so disappointed and crying I thought some- 
thing dreadful had happened.” 

“ Oh, Tip must have started that; he’s the big- 
gest cry-baby. Mother says he could wring a 
quart of tears out of the eye of a needle.” 

Such a pretty, wholesome laugh as she gave ! 

“And then did you come down here to find 
her ? ” she asked with a winsome smile. 

“ That was in my mind, yes. And now — won’t 
you jump in and ride back, for you have had one 
quite long walk.” 

“ I’d be very glad to,” she said frankly. She 
did not know enough to be suspicious, and she 
liked his face. 

“ Oh, thank you!” 

He held out his hand and she sprang in lightly. 
“ It’s very good of you,” she added, and the grati- 
tude in her soft brown eyes went to his heart. 

“ Do you know much about wills ? Here’s 


LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 19 

mother’s letter. I hope she won’t have to stay any 
longer.” 

He felt a little delicate about reading it. It was 
a pencil scrawl about what the lawyer had ad- 
vised, as she was one of the heirs. The last few 
lines touched him. 

“ Poor old Aunt Hitty! For forty years she’s 
lived alone. I’m gladder than ever that there are 
so many of us. Don’t get lonesome without me. 
I’ll surely come to-morrow. Your dearest, loving- 
est mother, with a kiss to you all.” 

“ Of course your mother has had something 
left to her. I’m very glad. How long has your 
father been dead?” 

“ The twins were born in June, five years ago, 
when the roses were all out. Father had just 
painted the house and it looked so nice. Mother 
cried over the babies, she said there were so many 
of us. But father said it was just right, or God 
wouldn’t have sent them. And oh, we had such 
a time over their names! We’re all named after 
flowers, and father used to call us his garden. 
He was working then for Mr. Briggs, and they 
were building the stone fence, trying to get a big 
stone in place, when something happened to 
father. I don’t remember what he called it, but 


20 THE CHILDREN IN THE 


something gave way and they couldn’t stop the 
bleeding, and poor dear poppy just grew weaker 
and weaker and died.” 

The child wiped her eyes and gave a long sigh, 
and he was deeply touched. 

“ You see we’d never been close to anybody dy- 
ing before. And it made us all so lonesome. And 
the children somehow had a queer feeling about 
mother’s going to Aunt Hitty’s funeral. But God 
will take care of her. I don’t think He would 
let anything happen to her when we need her so 
much.” 

“ You can trust Him to take care of her, I am 
sure,” he said earnestly, and from the depths of 
his heart he breathed a prayer for her safety. 
“ And I hope your mother will get something 
worth while.” 

“ Don’t they always in wills? But she said she 
didn’t want Aunt Hitty’s old house — you saw that 
in the note — as it was just ready to tumble down. 
We couldn’t go anywhere else. And Mr. Briggs 
is very good to us. He takes our fruit to market, 
and our poultry, and gives us our milk. Linn 
drives the cows to pasture and goes after them. 
And he pays him for some other things.” 

“ It’s odd, but I don’t know your name,” smil- 
ing down into the child’s face. 


LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 21 


“ It’s Amaryllis Firth. And there’s Marigold 
and Primrose, and the twins are Rhody and 
Laurel. Mother wouldn’t have Rhododendron, it 
was too long.” 

“ I should think so,” and he laughed. 

“ And the other name is Firth. And the boys 
are Linneus and Chandler and Tip, whose real 
name is Harrison. Will you tell me yours ? ” 

“ It’s Adonijah Mann. I suppose they gave 
me a long front name as a sort of balance to the 
other.” 

“ Mann. Well, that’s rather funny. Isn’t 
everybody a man ? ” 

“ Yes, but there’s an extra n in my name. And 
I live over at Grafton. Do you know where that 
is?” 

“ Oh, yes, but it’s too far to walk. And how 
many children have you ? ” 

“ None at all. And my wife died. Now I 
have no one to put in my pretty house.” 

“ Oh, I’m very sorry for you.” 

She said it with deep, honest feeling. 

“ Don’t you think you could lend me one or 
two ? ” he asked. 

She studied a minute or so. 

“ You wouldn’t want the twins unless you had 
a mother to take care of them. And Tip — well, 


22 THE CHILDREN IN THE 


I think he’d be lonesome and cry after mother. 
Mother says he’s very showery. Chan is a little 
lame and not much good, only he tells us very 
funny stories after supper when we all sit around. 
He makes animals talk. Mother says she don’t 
see where he got such a head full of stuff and 
how he could guess what they think.” 

“ Then I fancy Chan would be entertaining.” 

“ It ain’t really true, you know. Chan don’t 
tell it for that. But we have a little book in 
which they talk, and Chan says he knows they 
talk to each other, only we can’t understand them. 
And our kitty will talk to you as if she was an- 
swering what you said. Chan’s lame and mother 
thinks he grows worse.” 

“ What happened to him ? ” 

“ They were out chestnutting. Chan could 
climb like a cat. But he fell out of a tree and 
bruised his hip dreadfully. He couldn’t walk for 
some time. The doctor said he’d outgrow the 
lameness, but he doesn’t. So you wouldn’t want 
him.” 

The touch of pathos in her tone went to his 
heart. Wasn’t it the poor and unfortunate that 
were especially commended to one’s kindliness? 

“ And we couldn’t spare Linn. He’s working 
for Mr. Briggs through vacation and he’s going 


LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 23 

to pay mother in things we shall want for the 
winter. And Goldie’s such a help to mother, and 
Prim can work in the garden like a boy, and she’s 
a master hand with the chickens. You would 
laugh to see how she bosses the hens when they 
are hatching. I do think they know what she 
says to them. And she’s so fond of the little 
chicken babies.” 

The child laughed with a kind of pleasant satis- 
faction. 

“ Then I don’t see that I stand a chance to get 
any of you.” 

“ Oh, I think you’re just funnin’! You see — 
well, I can’t quite explain what I mean, only if 
there wasn’t any mother, and there never had 
been any children, a man wouldn’t know what 
to do with them. Sometimes they’re bad and 
bothersome. Now we turn in here. Oh, there 
they are, coming to meet mother ! ” She waved 
her hand. 

They certainly had a great fashion of huddling. 
A funny group on a sort of jog-trot. Then they 
stopped suddenly and wailed : “ Where’s mother? ” 

“Children!” Rilla leaned out over the side. 
“ Mother had to stay, but she sent a letter and 
she’s coming to-morrow.” 

“ O dear ! Odear!” 


24 THE CHILDREN IN THE 

“ Tip, I’m ashamed of you! You are the big- 
gest cry-baby! Mother’s all right. Didn’t she 
say God would take care of her! And this nice 
man gave me a ride. I was very tired. Oh, I 
am so much obliged to you ! ” smiling on 
him. 

She sprang out in the lightest fashion before 
he could even think, so intent was he on the group 
of children who hovered around her like a flock of 
birds. 

“ Yes, children,” he began, recovering his wits 
a little, “ your mother is all right and she will 
be home to-morrow at noon. Mind what your 
sister tells you and be good children. I will go 
down for your mother to-morrow and bring her 
home, and see that you have a good dinner.” 

He thought that quite a masterly effort, and he 
handed out the basket, which the curly, red-haired 
child took. 

“ Oh, thank you a thousand times ! ” and Rilla 
tried to extricate herself. “And will you truly 
go for mother? It’s such a long, warm walk in 
the middle of the day.” 

“ I surely will. No, don’t worry any; and, Tip, 
there’s nothing to cry about.” 

“ Maybe you’d cry if you hadn’t any muver 
for two whole nights.” 


LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 25 

And he could not remember that he had ever 
had a mother! 

It was a good five miles to Grafton, but he 
laughed now and then, and said : “ It’s as good 
as a play! And I was feeling a bit lonesome. 
Eight children ! ” 

It was late when he reached home, and Mrs. 
Alden apologized for the stewed chicken that had 
gone mostly to shreds. She made such delightful 
gravy with stewed chicken. 

“ Oh, never mind. It’s always good,” he said 
cheerily. 

Afterward he went out on the porch. Dan sat 
on the lowest step of the porch, with the collie’s 
head on his knee. 

“ Dan, do you know anything about the family 
living in a little old house on that bit of cross- 
road?” 

Mr. Mann was rather democratic, and sat down 
on the step just above Dan. 

“With a dozen or so children?” 

“ Only eight, Dan.” 

“ Oh, a few more or less don’t matter. The 
father’s dead.” 

“ Yes — what was he like?” 

“ Well — ruther queer — not a bad sort, either.” 

“Sober?” 


26 THE CHILDREN IN THE 


“ Oh, yes, straight as a hickory sapling and 
honest as a summer day is long, but one of the 
kind who seems never to get ahead.” 

“ Was he a native of hereabout? ” 

“ Oh, no. You see, Bessy Chandler taught 
the school over to Cross-roads, the old school. 
She was purty as a rose. And this David Firth 
came from somewhere — he wasn’t a dandy, but 
he seemed somehow as if he belonged to the upper 
crust. Well, they married. Her grandmother 
died a few years afterward; he’d fixed up the 
place some and was going to raise flowers and 
fruit. Granny died and she tied up the place to 
the children so they couldn’t go away. And 
somehow they seemed to get along, children and 
all. He worked around for the neighbors, could 
paint a house and mend up furniture, but he was 
always bewitched with flowers. I s’pose he ought 
to have been somewhere else where he could have 
made it pay. He did raise some splendid fruit 
and grafted trees for the farmers round. Then 
working on Farmer Briggs’s stone wall he got 
strained and bled to death, the doctors said, and 
bein’ inside they couldn’t do anything for it. 
Everybody was awful good to them that winter 
— and there were twin babies that had a plaguey 
sight better stayed out of the world. But she’s 


LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 27 

a smarter! You wouldn’t think it to look at 
her.” 

“ The beautifullest mother ” ran through his 
mind. 

“ And she takes care of them?” 

“ Yes, manages to. Women seem to have more 
idees than men. It would have swamped a man 
and he’d had to put the children out. She sews 
round. And they have some fine fruit — Farmer 
Briggs takes that to market. They raise a lot 
of chickens and they seem to have eggs when no 
one else does. Pete Graniss was hotfoot to marry 
her last year, but he wanted her to put the four 
younger ones in an orphan asylum. And if it 
wasn’t for the raft of young ones she could marry 
almost any time when a man loses his wife.” 

Mr. Mann laughed. Then he said gravely: 

“ She is a good woman.” 

“ As good as gold.” 

Presently Dan gave a long yawn. His pipe was 
out and it was his bedtime. So he wished his 
employer good-night and scuffled off. 

Adonijah Mann lapsed into a sort of reverie. 
More than once he had wondered if following out 
his sudden fancy had been wise. True, when he 
took his day in the city he was glad to get back 
to the loveliness, the fragrance, the rest of the 


28 THE CHILDREN IN THE 


pretty little half town, half village. The space 
all about, the cheerful dining-room with the 
flowers on the table and a bowl full of them on 
a little stand by the window. The fine white 
drapery and the portieres at the doors, the clean 
matting with a few rugs laid about, the easy- 
chairs in sociable-looking places. No one to fret 
if he laid down his paper and went to get some- 
thing. Even Pilot and Bitsy came in now and 
then, and the little dog had a cushion in the corner. 
As for the great out-of-doors, no words could 
describe it. He could feel it in every pulse of 
his body, and though he had not formulated any 
special idea of heaven, he thought it must be 
like this. He hoped his poor wife had her eyes 
opened to the glory of it. 

After the Rosses had gone there was a lone- 
some kind of feeling everywhere, a sort of con- 
science-smitten feeling. Had he any right to all 
this ease and pleasure and beauty when down 
yonder hundreds were gasping for a breath of 
fresh air! Ought he not bring some of them out 
here and refresh their famished souls and bodies? 
Last week he had stopped at the Orphan Asylum 
that he had visited several times and left twenty 
dollars that the children might be taken out on a 
trolley-ride. He had watched their faces brighten 


LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 29 

when the pleasure was announced. And he won- 
dered whether he would like a girl or a boy better? 

Some one surely ought to be here. There was 
no relative he could think of — no friend — he had 
made so few except in a business way. And 
somehow his heart went out to the poor who had 
no friends. He wished he had more. 

The neighbors had been formally social. In 
small settlements like this they hold off a little 
until they get at one’s true standing. It is not 
always the money. He used to watch them as 
he came up from the station; they were often 
out on the porch. A few of them had children — 
one family had two fine boys, about ten and 
twelve, who would come down to meet their fa- 
ther. And though kissing was a reprehensible 
and an unhealthy habit, besides being out of date, 
they nearly always kissed him and each took a 
hand as they walked up. Next door one side was 
a stylish middle-aged couple. They had invited 
him in to play whist, but he didn’t play cards. 
On the other side they had a little girl of seven 
or eight, who was always beautifully dressed and 
sat in a pretty little rocking-chair holding a doll. 
Did she never care to run and play? he won- 
dered. 

There were two oldish men, brothers, living 


3 o THE LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 

down at the end of the block, and the blocks were 
long, that he had become quite friendly with. 
Both were bachelors and had rather an objection 
to children. He was foolish, no doubt, but he 
wanted something young and sweet, with cling- 
ing, caressing arms. 


CHAPTER III 


THE MOTHER OF EIGHT 

Adonijah Mann was down at the station 
early. It was an ugly place all about, quite as ugly 
as some of the city’s marts, only here there was 
no bustle of business. A grist-mill — a carpenter 
shop with an attempt at a lumber yard — some old 
boats lying at the dilapidated dock. There was 
not much business at Denby — farther down, 
Ridgewood was quite thriving. 

The train came screaming along as if there 
were a great deal to do. Some boxes of freight, 
a sewing-machine for some one, a pile of empty 
bales and baskets, and a little to put on. One 
passenger coach. Two men jumped out, then a 
lady in black with a mourning veil, rather shabby 
and dusty, and with a parcel done up in rough 
brown paper. She gave timid glances about and 
took two or three steps forward. 

“ Mrs. Firth, I believe,” he said somewhat hesi- 
tatingly. 

“ Yes. Oh,” in a frightened tone, “ has any- 
thing happened ” 


31 


32 THE CHILDREN IN THE 

“ Nothing, nothing, ma’am,” with a wave of 
the hand. “ I met your little girl down here yes- 
terday and drove her home. Then I saw all the 
children — no, one boy wasn’t at home. And I 
told them I’d come down for you to save you the 
long walk through the sun.” 

There was a sudden cloud of dust in the road, 
and out of it emerged a small, barefooted boy 
with his trousers rolled above his knees and the 
brim of his straw hat broken in several places. 
His gingham shirt was dirty, but he flew at the 
slight figure with a force that nearly threw her 
over. 

“Oh, mommy! mommy! We’ve missed you 
so! And we thought — if you never came back. 
And Tip’s kept the twins crying ’most all the 
time!” 

“ Oh, Linn, dear ” — he was smothering her 
with the most unhygienic kisses — “ of course I 
should come back. God wouldn’t let anything 
happen to me when you all needed me so much. 
There, child — oh, you must excuse him ” — to the 
interested spectator. “ You see I’ve never been 
away since ” and her voice had a tremble in it. 

“ I s’pose this is the man they talked about 
who brought Rilla home. And the pretty 
horse ” 


LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 33 

Linn’s face was redder than the heat had made 
it, and he suddenly hung his head, abashed. 

“ Yes, my lad,” returned the cheerful voice. 
“ And did you come down to meet your 
mother ? ” 

“ Not exactly. Mis’ Briggs wanted some spices 
and I said I’d run down to the store. I knew it 
would be about train time. All the same, I did 
want to see mother,” caressing her hand and pat- 
ting it against his hot cheek. 

“ Well, if you could squeeze down between 
us ” and Mr. Mann seemed to m.ake room. 

“ Oh, no, sir. I’m all dust and dirt. And I’m 
glad to have you take mother. I’ll soon run 
back. Thank you all the same,” touching his 
hat rim. 

Mr. Mann handed in his guest and spread the 
laprobe over her as carefully as if she had been 
gowned in silk. She pulled out - her veil and 
flushed as she noted that her glove finger had 
given out. And she almost wished he had not 
come — what would the Denby people think! But 
after they passed the store it did not make so 
much difference. 

“ I don’t know how used you are to children,” 
Mrs. Firth began deprecatingly, “ and we have 
so many, and in the summer clothes get soiled so 


34 THE CHILDREN IN THE 

easily; children, too,” ending with a faint ghost 
of a laugh. 

“ I’ve never had any. My wife didn’t seem to 
care for them, and now she’s dead. I am alone 
in the world. There was a stepmother and some 
second children in our family, but they strayed 
off, I don’t know where. I live at Grafton, though 
I’ve spent most of my life in the city and at busi- 
ness. But I had a notion for something different, 
and this place seemed to come to me.” 

“It’s a very pretty place, sort of a suburb to 
Ridgewood, isn’t it? Husband went over there 
several times to lay out grounds and plant trees. 
It is, well — rather for the quality. And we’re 
such very plain folks here at Denby. It’s scarcely 
changed since I was a girl — they are mostly old 
farmers, only they have built a new schoolhouse 
over there ” — nodding her head to the eastward. 
“And that is the old church that has been here 
a hundred years. Up above is a nice little town 
— Rowaton. And there’s Ridgewood. Round 
about here it’s all farms, and it doesn’t seem as if 
people were real ambitious.” 

“ You used to teach the school, I heard.” 

“ Yes, that was long ago. They had a man 
one year who boarded round, and I had a few 
little folks in my house. Grandmother was alive 


LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 35 

then. The man didn’t seem to get along, and no 
one else would come for the money. I taught 
four years, and you learn a good deal by teach- 
ing. Then they built the new schoolhouse, and 
you had to be examined in lots of new things I 
didn’t know about. I didn’t care much, for Mr. 
Firth wanted to marry me. But afterward I had 
some of the ABC children at my house. Mr. 
Firth had been educated. We couldn’t go away 
on account of grandmother, you know, and he 
could turn his hand to ’most anything. So we 
lived along, and the babies came, but when grand- 
mother died we found she’d left the place to the 
children when we were dead. She wouldn’t hear 
to our going away, and that was what we meant 
to do when she was gone. And there was a little 
money that was to pay the taxes. So we just 
went on, and then he was hurt. Things happen 
mysteriously in this world, and you can’t ’count 
for it. If we could have gone away that wouldn’t 
have happened to husband.” 

It did seem as if fate had made the master- 
throw in her life. 

“ I hadn’t much opinion of wills after that. If 
you want anybody to have the good of a thing 
give it to them out and out, while it is of some 
service. Still we’ve been glad and thankful that 


36 THE CHILDREN IN THE 

we’ve had a home, and the taxes paid seven 
years.” 

“ I hope this new will was satisfactory,” he said 
in the pause. 

“ Well, it really wasn’t worth staying for. Not 
that I had been counting on anything. There’s a 
grand-nephew — and four grand-nieces. He’s run 
the farm for the old lady and kept her in every- 
thing. It’s a big farm, a hundred or so acres, 
and that’s left to him. The house is only an old 
shell. Then the clothes and bedding and furni- 
ture and dishes are to be divided among the nieces 
in equal value. The old lady never was married. 
She was grandmother’s sister.” 

No, there didn’t seem to be much hope for any 
fortune in that, and he really was sorry. 

“ It’s a shame,” he commented. 

“ Well, you see I hadn’t been lotting on any- 
thing, and I can’t say I was disappointed. Mary 
Jane was, awfully. She used to run in and do 
things for the old lady, and it seemed as if she 
ought to have had some recompense, and Eliza 
Ann thought the farm ought to be divided. I was 
tired of hearing them wrangle. And now the sur- 
rogate has to do something to the will ” 

“ It has to be probated.” 

“Well, if I get some extra blankets they’ll be 


LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 37 

good for winter. Mine are getting pretty well 
worn.” 

She gave a soft little laugh that seemed some- 
how to come from a light heart. You wouldn’t 
think of her being pretty at first, but there was 
a subtle sort of sweetness, an elusive flavor that 
you sometimes get in a perfume, compounded of 
many things, the cordial smile, the uplift that was 
courage and hope transfused together. The brown 
eyes had a kind of liquid light, as if the sun was 
shining back of them. Most people spoke of her 
as being small, but she was quite medium size as 
to figure, but the head had a rather proud poise 
and the features were fine. In spite of children 
and hard work she had not grown old, and there 
was no sign of discouragement in her face or 
voice. Before he had reached the little old red 
house he echoed Tip’s designation — “ The beau- 
tifullest mother.” That was what she had been 
to the children just in motherly duty, making no 
special virtue of it. 

The children were out watching; even Rilla left 
her cookery and came wiping her hands on her 
checked apron. 

“ Oh, my dears ! ” she cried, and the little hands 
almost dragged her out before Mr. Mann could 
alight. 


38 THE CHILDREN IN THE 

“ You see I’ve brought her home safe. Now 
what are you going to pay me ? ” 

The small faces were aghast. 

“ You didn’t say anything about pay,” declared 
Chan, with sudden courage. “ You just said 
you’d surely bring her home.” 

“ I wasn’t a bit sharp about bargain-making, 
was I ? ” and he laughed. 

“ I’ll div’ you my dolly,” proffered Laurel, who 
looked at least a year or two younger than her 
twin, and was backward about talking plainly; 
but her mother liked the baby words. 

“Oh, Laurel, for shame! That dirty thing!” 
and Prim snatched it away and threw it toward 
the house. Then it was Laurel’s turn to cry. Tip 
looked at her in disdain. 

“Never mind, dear, the gentleman will know 
it came from your heart, and that it was some- 
thing you cherished. Everybody wouldn’t want 
to give away what they loved best. You’re not 
used to children,” turning to him, “ so you must 
excuse them. And I am a thousand times 
obliged to you. Marigold, you might get him a 
posy.” 

“ And if you don’t object I’ll come over some 
day and take the younger ones out for a drive. 
Occasionally I get a sort of lonesome feeling.” 


LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 39 

“Oh, you are very good!” and Mrs. Firth 
raised her soft, sweet eyes. 

Marigold handed up the posy. Some roses and 
very beautiful china pinks. 

“ Though I suppose you have plenty of 
flowers ” 

“But these are wonderful La France roses! 
Why, they are really finer than mine.” 

“ Father used to take such pains with them. 
You see, I’ve only such a little time, and then I 
don’t know about them as he did,” Mrs. Firth 
said deprecatingly. 

“ I must come over and look at the garden. 
Thank you. And now — be good children.” 

He was going to add “ and love your mother,” 
but he knew there was no need, and he had a 
strangely awkward feeling as he drove away. 
He would like to know them real well, but he 
didn’t just understand how to get about it. They 
would go out in the kitchen and have some dinner, 
never dreaming that for years he had eaten in the 
kitchen off cheap, common ware, hurrying through 
his meals. 

Then he wondered about the little lame boy. 
He looked more delicate than the others. Couldn’t 
something be done for him? 

Eight children for one little mother! And so 


4 o THE CHILDREN IN THE 

many houses where there were no children ! And 
so many children in the asylums ! So many little 
waifs never knowing what love meant. Why, he 
had not really known how much it was to them 
until he had come to know the Rosses intimately. 

Not that these children had any lack. But what 
would the little mother do when they began to 
grow up ? They would have few chances for edu- 
cation, few opportunities for advancement. They 
all seemed so bright, too. But often it was the 
helping hand that assisted one in finding his place. 
A helping hand had been held out to him. He had 
seen the possibilities in John Ross. And now — 
why, there were hundreds of people in the world 
who needed this kindly assistance, who might be 
useful and honored instead of dropping down in 
discouragement. The children were to be the 
next generation of men and women. 

The little group left behind watched the wagon 
out of sight in spite of the old adage of bad luck. 

“ Isn’t he just splendid ! ” exclaimed Amaryllis. 
“But such a funny name! Mr. Mann! Of 
course he’s a man.” 

“ Oh, Tip, do let go ! You’ll drag the clothes off 
me and tear my veil, like as not ! ” said his mother, 
unclasping the small hands that seemed to have 
so much strength. 


LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 41 

“Me, too, mommy! Me ’ants a hug,” and 
Laurel caught her skirt. 

“ Children, let me go and change my dress. It’s 
my best one, and goodness only knows when I’ll 
get another. And then I’ll tell you everything. 
I’m glad enough to get back, just as glad as you 
are.” 

She made her way through the group, but Rilla 
ran in to look after the dinner, as there was a 
suspicious smell of beans burning. On one side 
of the hall were two rooms, both used for sleep- 
ing apartments. The front one was the larger, 
and had an old-fashioned, much-carved, high-post 
bedstead and a trundle bed that was pushed about 
halfway under in the daytime. A bureau, an old 
cedar chest, and two chairs completed the fur- 
niture. The floor was painted and some rag rugs 
laid down beside the beds. 

She took off her hat and brushed the dust out 
of that, shook her veil and folded it carefully, 
laying both in the chest. Then from the closet 
she took her everyday calico gown and hung her 
black one out of the window, meaning to look 
after it presently. 

“ Dinner’s ready,” announced Marigold. “ Oh, 
mommy, you can’t think how lonesome it was last 
night. And that owl came and hollered.” 


42 THE CHILDREN IN THE 

“Well, you weren’t afraid of the old owl!” 

“ Not afraid, of course ” 

Linn came in breathless. “ Oh, I hoped you 
wouldn’t have eaten your dinner ! Mis’ Briggs had 
a b’iled dinner with everything in it, and it was 
lickin’ good, I tell you ! And she said, ‘ Linn, you 
just run over home with this chunk of pork. — It’ll 
go good.’ ” 

This room was quite long, and was sitting-room 
and dining-room, with the lower end devoted to 
kitchen purposes, though in the summer they 
cooked out in a sort of shed kitchen. The table 
was covered with an enameled cloth, the dishes 
were a rather motley array, but the children were 
all clean now. 

As Linn was talking, he uncovered the kettle 
at Rilla’s elbow and she took out a tempting piece 
of pork, at which the children set up a shriek of 
delight. They were never quite as badly off as 
the old woman’s children, for they always had 
bread if they did not have broth. But meat was 
more of a rarity. It looked appetizing enough 
set in the great platter of green beans and corn. 

“ And how about the fortune, mother ! They 
were all crazy to know over to the store.” 

“ I don’t think there’ll be much fortune. One 
of the cousins takes the farm. And she’s to have 


LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 43 

a monument out of what’s left from the 
burying.” 

“Jiminy! That’s kinder tough, after getting 
you over there and keeping you. But say, didn’t 
you go off in style! That Mr. Mann bought the 
Gedney place right in ’mong the ’stocracy, Jim 
Perkins said, and he goes to New York two or 
three times a week to do business. Wasn’t it 
funny that he should stop yesterday ” 

“ It was ’cause I cried,” interrupted Tip. “ We 
sat out there wishin’ for muver, and I said, * Let’s 
all cry, ’cause we’re so lonesome.’ And we just 
cried as hard as we could.” 

Mrs. Firth laughed — she could just see how 
they looked. 

“ And you won’t get anything! Now that’s 
what I call hard lines. And — and mean,” the 
boy said with spirit. He had been making consid- 
erable of it in the store and he felt suddenly mor- 
tified. 

“ There are some things to be divided, and I’ll 
get my share. It’s an old tumble-down house, 
much worse than this, , and good for nothing. 
Cousin Joe Rice takes that, though he may get 
enough for a barn out of it, and the things are 
to be divided among the four grand-nieces.” 

“ Well, I must run back. Mis’ Briggs wanted 


44 THE CHILDREN IN THE 

to hear, and she’d like to have you Tuesday of 
next week.” 

“ Yes, I’ll come. Thank her for the pork.” 

They enjoyed the meal like healthy, hungry 
children. Then the dishes were washed, the room 
put in order, and they went out on the big stone 
step to hear about mother’s journey and the 
cousins. 

“ There’s Martha Rice, Joe’s wife, and they 
have four pretty fair children; then Jane Brown 
has one poor measlin’-looking little girl, homely 
as the wrong side of a stone fence, and thin, 
straight black hair that makes a fright of her. I 
must say that I think black hair makes a scare- 
crow of a child. Then Mirny Blake has two 
clumsy, awkward boys with the queerest carroty- 
colored hair. Then Eliza Armstrong is the great 
lady of the town; her husband has a grist-mill, 
and though she’s no children she made a great 
fuss about the will. Joe’s wife has been looking- 
after the old lady, but the poor old lady didn’t 
have any sense for months at the last, and Eliza’s 
very sure Joe planned out all the will, only it was 
made years ago. I didn’t think I had any say 
about it, and I do hope they won’t send me any 
old furniture and make me pay for carting. And 
the way they talked about my eight children was 


LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 45 

something dreadful, seeing as they’ve never been 
asked to find them food or clothes.” 

“ We could have done without the twins,” Rilla 
said softly. 

“ Well, I don’t know,” subjoined her mother. 
“ Father was so proud of them. No one had 
twins hereabout. And we’ve got along so far and 
I know the Lord will help us pull through. I 
wouldn’t dare to say there were too many of you, 
lest He should take one of you away.” 

“ Mother, if you had a chance to give one of 
us away, which one would it be ? ” 

“Oh, Chandler! Give one of you away! I’d 
work my fingers to the bone first! And think 
how nice it will be when you are grown up ! Why, 
we will almost be a little town by ourselves. And 
then you’ll marry. Why, I wouldn’t worry about 
things as Lizy Armstrong does, and she hasn’t a 
chick nor a child. Well, I don’t know about the 
chickens.” 

Chan wanted to say, “If you did give one away 
it had better be me, for maybe I’ll not be good for 
very much.” He felt he was not outgrowing his 
hurt as the doctor had predicted. He couldn’t 
walk as well as he did a few months ago. The 
hip-joint felt wabbly and it often pained him, es- 
pecially at night when the others were asleep. 


46 THE LITTLE OLD RED HO USE 

But he cried softly, lest his mother should hear, 
when it was very bad. 

“ No, there isn't one too many,” declared fool- 
ish little Mrs. Firth. 

That evening she had to tell it all over to Linn, 
and somehow he felt dreadfully disappointed that 
there wasn’t any fortune. For his best suit was 
getting outgrown, and maybe he couldn’t go to 
school the coming winter. He did like studying. 
There were so many wonderful new things that 
his mother did not know about, although she 
helped him in a good many ways. If that farm, 
a hundred acres or more, had been sold and the 
money divided round! And how splendid Mr. 
Mann’s life must be, going in to New York to 
business just as it suited him, and driving round 
the country whenever he liked ! 


CHAPTER IV 


DREAMING IN THE TWILIGHT 

They all sat out on the wide doorstep this sum- 
mer evening. Their mother was away again; she 
had gone to the parsonage, where they were keep- 
ing an anniversary of the minister’s marriage. 
Mrs. Burnham always called in Mrs. Firth when 
there was anything extra going on. She had such 
a deft, quiet way, her manners were much more 
refined than those of the other two women who 
made a business of lending a helping hand in sick- 
ness or any unusual occasion. She could arrange 
a table so prettily, she never jostled the guests as 
she went around, or slopped or broke any article. 
Denby people, as a general thing, thought her a 
very nice person. It was because she had taught 
school, and what had possessed her to throw her- 
self away on David Firth and have eight children 
was a mystery! That the Firths had gotten along 
quite as well as some of the slipshod farmers who 
had only half the number of children was seldom 
taken into account. 


47 


48 THE CHILDREN IN THE 

True, she wouldn’t be home until quite late, but 
she would bring a basket of “ goodies,” and they 
all wanted to sit up and see. Rilla was darning 
stockings. Marigold was knitting winter ones for 
the twins out of some clouded red yarn a neighbor 
had given them. Primrose was spelling hard 
words and beating them into her breast with a 
vague idea that it was the abiding place of mem- 
ory. Chan sat further out on the smooth ground 
in his small rocking-chair. He could give him- 
self a little twist in it that eased up his hip. Tip 
had his head in Marigold’s lap; Linn had been 
playing “ cat’s cradle ” with the twins. 

It was not dark yet, though the soft gray of 
twilight was stealing over the sky, and there was 
a lovely breeze from the south. 

44 There ! ” Prim exclaimed, “ I’ve spelled 
4 tetrarch ’ six times with my eyes shut. I bet no 
one will catch me on that again, though I do al- 
ways want to spell it tea-tray, for there’s a picture 
of her cornin’ in with a great dish held up high 
that looks like a tea-tray. It’s horrid, too.” 

44 Her — who ? ” asked Chan. 

44 Why, that dancing girl. I hope we won’t 
have it for a Sunday-school lesson until I am 
grown up, and I won’t go that Sunday. I just 
hate it!” 


LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 49 

“ Oh ! ” returned Chan, without understanding 
a bit. 

Marigold was counting off the stitches for the 
heel, before it grew too dark to see. She could 
go on well enough afterward. 

“ Don’t you think it queer,” she began, “ that 
we’ve never seen that man since the day he 
brought mother home, and he was «so jolly and 
asked us all to ride, you know. Why, I liked him 
so much. Do you suppose he was just funning? ” 

“ He couldn’t ’a’ took us all in that little 
wagon,” declared Tip. 

“ But he might have taken us in twice,” re- 
marked Primrose, with an air of superior wisdom, 
“ and the twins could have sat down in front.” 

“ It wasn’t a bit nice of him,” said Marigold. 
“ Grown-ups ought to keep their promises. What 
are you laughing at, Rilla ? ” 

“ Oh, something I thought of, and it’s wrong to 
laugh at anything in the Bible, and a text, too.” 

“ That’s funny,” returned Linn. “ Let’s have 
it.” 

“ I don’t know how I came to remember it — I 
nearly always forget the text. But the Sunday 
mother had the toothache and she gave me par- 
ticular charge, the chapter and verse just slipped 
out of my mind, but the words seemed sort of 


50 THE CHILDREN IN THE 

queer to me and they stayed. It was : ‘ Put not 
your trust in princes nor any child of man/ ” 

“ And he’s a child of man/’ said Linn, uncon- 
scious of a pun. “ What a queer name ! ” 

“ I think you ought to trust princes,” declared 
Marigold, in a rather sentimental tone. “ They 
have plenty of time and money, and they can study 
up nice things, and have servants to send about, 
and all that. Poor people have to work most of 
the time. Oh, I think I’d like to be a princess or 
a queen ! ” 

“ Golly ! you aim high,” laughed Linn. 

“ Oh, let’s think what we would do if we were 
all rich,” suggested Primrose eagerly. 

“ I’d keep my word to a lot of poor children 
when I’d promised to take them out riding,” said 
Chan gravely. 

“ That’s almost equal to the yard of black pud- 
ding,” laughed Linn. “ Think of something worth 
while! I’d like to have millions. Then I’d go 
to a first-class school and get an A No. i educa- 
tion, and I’d study up the thing that would make 
the most money. I’d have a grand house and pic- 
tures and beautiful things ” 

“ But if you had all that money,” interrupted 
Prim, “ why would you want to make any more ? ” 
“ Well, maybe I wouldn’t. Yes, I’d like to own 


LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 51 

a railroad and travel round in my own private 
car and boss lots of men. And then at great meet- 
ings I’d tell them how I was a poor little bare- 
footed boy that ran around doing errands and 
had to wear patched clothes and things. I’ve read 
about ’em. And they most always do begin poor. 
Now, Rill, it’s your turn.” 

“ Oh, I don’t know,” said Amaryllis, “ except 
the beautiful house, and mother shouldn’t go out 
to work any more.” 

“ I know what I’d do,” announced Primrose 
triumphantly, “ I’d have a greenhouse like those 
you read of in father’s old books, and all manner 
of lovely flowers. When you grow them from 
little bits of things they seem like babies, and 
you could hug and kiss ’em, they’re so sweet, and 
you can get lots of money for ’em.” 

“ That’s the thing ! ” cried Chan. “ And you’d 
take me in, wouldn’t you, Prim? For if I was 
lame I could get about in a greenhouse. But if 
a fairy came and gave me a lot of money I think 
I’d try to find a first-rate doctor and see if he 
couldn’t do something that would keep my leg 
from slipping back when I walk. It’s that that 
makes me wabble so.” 

“ Oh, yes, you should come,” assented Prim. 

“ Dolly and Dicky,” and Linn gave the twins 


52 THE CHILDREN IN THE 

a squeeze, “ what would you do with a big lot 
of money?” 

“ I’d buy a beautiful big doll with eyes that shut 
and real curly hair, and a carriage to ride it 
round in,” said Rhoda. 

“That wouldn’t cost a million. Now, Dolly?” 

Laurel hugged her doll closer. Her clothes had 
been washed and her face and arms made over, 
which you can do to a rag-doll with no expense. 

“ I’d buy a red bank like Taty Burnman.” 

“ Do try to say Burnham. Then what would 
you do with it ? ” 

“ Why, I’d put my money in it.” 

It was getting quite dusky, but Linn laughed 
down into the sweet surprised blue eyes, and kissed 
his baby sister. 

“ Tip, you haven’t said a word. Wake up,” 
and he nudged the child. “ You haven’t spent 
your million. 

** ‘There was an old man in Kilkenny 
Who never had more than a penny. 

He spent all that money in onions and honey, 

This wayward old man in Kilkenny.’ ”, 

“As if I couldn’t get onions out in the back 
yard,” returned Tip disdainfully. “ I’d get a real 
gold watch, and I’d have a horse and a great big 
carriage, and we’d go riding every day. And I 


LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 53 

wouldn’t be like the man; I’d take out some chil- 
dren who didn’t have any carriage.” 

“ Three cheers for you, Tip; and now the great 
question is : How are we to get the million ? ” 

“ Do you suppose Mr. Mann has a million?” 
asked Marigold. 

“ Oh, no. A million is a great deal of money. 
Ten hundred thousand. I don’t believe any one 
in Grafton is worth that, and I heard Mr. Briggs 
say he gave seven thousand for the house and 
grounds and some of the furniture. But it’s a 
very tony place. They don’t allow any little cot- 
tages built. If we were set over there in the 
midst there would be consternation ! ” and Linn 
laughed heartily at the thought. 

“ But we couldn’t,” said Tip, “ unless the 
witches took us through the air.” 

“If we only had a lamp to rub,” sighed Chan. 

“ But we haven’t anything only each other and 
mother and this little old house and three acres 
of ground. Well, after all, that’s quite a good 
deal,” said Amaryllis, with a cheerful sound. 
“And isn’t Dolly asleep?” 

“ Sound. Shall I carry her in ? ” 

“ I ain’t sleepy,” declared Rhoda. 

“But you wouldn’t want to stay out here all 
alone? ” 


54 THE CHILDREN IN THE 

“ No. I’d be afraid of a big tiger.” 

“ There ain’t any tigers,” said Tip disdainfully. 

“ There is too so, in my Christmas book ! And 
if they got out ” 

“ They’d eat us all up for sure.” 

Rhoda ran in, catching hold of Linn’s shirt- 
sleeve. Rilla lighted a lamp, then she found the 
children’s nighties and soon had Laurel in bed. 
The only sound she uttered was a sleepy grunt. 
Rhoda made no demur at following. Chan was 
tired and thought he would go, too. He slept on 
a cot by himself and Tip shared Linn’s bed. The 
two older girls went upstairs, where there was a 
nice airy room with a window at each end. 

Amaryllis went back to her pile of stockings. 
Some were cut-down ones and did not stand much 
wear. The boys often went barefoot. 

“ I’ll have a nice lot against winter,” said Mari- 
gold, “ for when we get to school there won’t be 
so much time. Oh, Rilla, if we only were rich; 
and then think of Mr. Mann not having any chil- 
dren to buy clothes for, though we don’t really 
buy much,” with an odd little laugh. “ Shoes are 
the worst, and you have to get pretty good ones 
for winter wear.” 

“ It doesn’t seem quite right, Goldie, that one 
person should have so much and no one to spend 


LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 55 

it on. I’m disappointed, somehow. I liked him 
so. There was something so good in his face and 
he had such a jolly sort of voice, and he seemed 
so interested in us.” 

“ And that beautiful dimple! I just wish I had 
it in my cheek! And if my hair wasn’t red! I 
do hate to be called ‘ carrots ’ and ‘ bricktop,’ and 
then that I should be named Marigold!” 

“ But your hair is so dark I think it will be 
brown when you are grown up. You know mother 
said when she was little they called her ‘ tow- 
head,’ and now see how dark it is; and yours is 
so soft and silky. I just envy you about half the 
curl in it. I mean to keep the twins’ hair curly. 
They say you must just snip off the ends and 
never cut above the curl, and that’s what I mean 
to do. I do so love curly hair.” 

Linn thought he would go down to the par- 
sonage and walk home with mother and carry 
the basket. Rilla had all the stockings mended, 
and then she took up Prim’s speller and went over 
the hard words at the back. She wasn’t quite sure 
she could go to school this winter. Mother was 
out so much, and she really did like the house- 
keeping. 

It was past ten when the two returned. Linn 
set down the basket with a thump. 


56 THE CHILDREN IN THE 

“ We can give a party ourselves, 1 ” he said, with 
a gay laugh. “ And Mis’ Burnham would make 
me come in and eat up some of the fragments. 
I’m just stuffed ! ” 

“ They had a splendid time,” began Mrs. Firth, 
“ and some nice presents. A beautiful tablecloth 
and some silver knives and forks. Theirs were 
getting quite worn out, and Mrs. Benson sent a 
little bureau and a rocking-chair that had been 
her Sophy’s, because she said they were kind of 
idols to her and made her long for Sophy instead 
of being glad Sophy was in heaven. And such 
a good time as everybody had. The choir sang, 
and Deacon Gates made a nice speech and said 
he was glad the minister let them come in and 
keep the feast with them.” 

“ Oh, what a lot of cake and biscuits ! and the 
ham is just lovely! And these little brown 
things ” 

“ Croquettes they call them, but they’re a bit of 
hash rolled round and fried as you do doughnuts, 
though why they should call them that — and I’m 
just tired as a dog. I’m glad I don’t have to go 
out to-morrow.” 

“ And we’re glad too, momsey dear. Now I’ll 
put the things away and we’ll go straight to 
bed.” 


LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 57 

So presently it was all quiet in the little old red 
house, and the old moon came and looked in the 
windows, and the man smiled with the part of his 
face that hadn’t turned quite around yet. But he 
didn’t find any fault nor frown because there were 
eight children. 

Meanwhile, what had become of Mr. Mann? 
The day he had gone for Mrs. Firth was his day 
to be at the factory, and when he went the next 
day he found things at sixes and sevens, what- 
ever that is. 

Mr. Ross was really ill with a fever. There 
had come in quite a large and unexpected order. 
Two excellent workmen had gone on a spree and 
then refused to work unless they could have a 
raise in wages. 

“ And you know you said in the spring you 
would never take them back if they went off that 
way again! Well, they did Fourth of July, but 
pretended to be so repentant and begged me not 
to say anything to you, so I gave in, but this time 
they were so obstreperous that I told them to go. 
It made us short-handed, but work sometimes 
slacks up in the summer. Then this order coming 
in the first of the week — I’ve had the fever about 
ten days now, and I thought I’d work it off, but 


58 THE CHILDREN IN THE 

I’m afraid it has got the best of me. I’m awful 


sorry 

His face was flushed a dull red, his eyes were 
heavy, and his voice shook with the effort of 
talking. 

“ Oh, why didn’t you telegraph at once ! Now 
you must make ready and go down to Westerley 
immediately, and I’ll look after things. It’s time 
you had a vacation. What have I been thinking 
of! Laziness makes a man selfish!” 

“ You’ve been very good to me, Mr. Mann, and 
I’m sure you deserve a nice time on your own 
money. I should have sent if you had not come 
in this morning.” 

“ Just go over the order with me, and then con- 
sider yourself laid off for a fortnight, at least. 
I’ll run down and see how you get along. Don’t 
worry about anything. See the doctor at 
once.” 

So he started Mr. Ross off and telegraphed to 
Dan not to expect him home at night. He found 
things had fallen behind. The order was from 
some new people who might be very profitable 
customers he saw, so he supervised the workmen 
with keen eyes, though some of them were glad 
to have the old boss back again and were spurred 
up to their best. They even agreed to give up 


LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 59 

the half -holiday on Saturday on the proffer of 
double wages. 

He was very glad there was a late train on 
Saturday, and it was nine at night when he 
reached home, tired and heated through and 
through. Oh, how delightful the fresh and fra- 
grant air from the firs and hemlocks and bloom- 
ing flowers and emerald grass was! Why, life 
was worth fifty times more here. Pilot was wild 
with joy and Bitsy frolicked so that he could 
hardly cross the porch, and there was his refresh- 
ing bath and a simple supper and delightful 
tea. 

“ I shall have to stay all next week,” he ex- 
plained to Mrs. Alden, “ perhaps longer. Mr. 
Ross is in for a bad time, I am afraid. He should 
have given up sooner. And you see the trains 
do not run to oblige the working man, and I must 
be there at seven in the morning. But I’ve found 
a comfortable boarding-place — so many folks go 
away in the summer they are glad to take you 
in. It’s rather funny to turn in and work, 
though,” laughing. “ See how soon a man gets 
spoiled ! ” 

“ It’s pretty tough to begin in August weather 
when you’ve been out of the harness for months. 
I’m powerful sorry for Mr. Ross. Fevers at this 


6o THE CHILDREN IN THE 


season are bad things. You don’t think it is 
typhoid ? ” 

“ Well, it would take a doctor to tell that. You 
see, this order coming as it did made him very 
anxious, and being short-handed made more real 
work for him. You can’t always get a first-rate 
man at short notice. I’ve often wondered why 
men didn’t try to come up to the best and get 
higher wages instead of staying at the bottom of 
the line.” 

Dan had everything in order and had gone 
home. 

“ Don’t bother about breakfast,” he said to Mrs. 
Alden. “ I may like to sleep late, and a cup of 
coffee and some of your nice bread will answer. 
Have dinner at the usual time. I’ll take a drive 
in the afternoon, and go over to Ridgewood for 
that eight o’clock train that doesn’t stop here.” 

“ Dear ! dear ! ” she ejaculated, “ I just pity 
your having such a break-up in this hot dog-day 
weather.” 

He woke early — his chamber fronted the rising 
sun. The birds were singing not quite with the 
June morning gayety, but it was sweet, a Sunday 
melody softened a little; Chanticleer, too, with his 
shrill, clear call, and another at a distance an- 
swering. There were the lambs also, grown much 


LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 61 

steadier on their legs. Oh, how delightful it all 
was ! 

Then he turned over and took another nap, since 
there were no city noises to disturb him. 

But it really seemed when he went around his 
small farm as if he had been gone a month. Over 
on the back fence-line there were some new wild 
flowers coming out, asters, milkweed, and one 
great purple thistle whose life he had begged from 
Dan. 

“ Let it bloom,” he had said, “ but cut off the 
flowers before they can seed themselves. It is so 
long since I have seen one in bloom. And there 
were great yellow daisies, black-eyed Susans they 
used to call them.” 

The dinner was fine. There were his own 
luscious peaches for dessert, so fragrant that they 
scented the room, and a saucer of late raspberries, 
sweet and fresh, a treat indeed. 

About four he would drive over to the Firths. 
Dan had been instructed to put the two-seated sur- 
rey in order, but he wouldn’t take them out to-day 
— maybe that wasn’t quite a Sunday treat. He 
wanted them to have some fun when they had the 
ride. 

Just as he was going to call to Dan he espied 
two gentlemen coming up the street. They were 


62 THE CHILDREN IN THE 

about of a size, one a little stouter than the other; 
they had the nattiest of gray cloth suits, the 
smoothest of high silk hats, and each carried a 
gold-headed cane. They paused, then with a half 
nod came up his walk, and he knew they 
were the bachelor brothers, Peter and Ira Con- 
sadine. 

“ Good-afternoon/’ began Peter, who was the 
stouter one, and not very stout either, only Ira 
was a little thinner. They both had that curious, 
well-preserved look as if they had been laid away 
in spices but had not quite reached the mummy 
stage. 

“ Good-afternoon, Mr. Mann. I’ve been saying 
to Ira for a month or more we must be neigh- 
borly ” 

“ Yes, we must be neighborly,” re-echoed Ira. 

“ We’re not the kind to rush headlong into an 
acquaintance. It’s best to go slowly, to learn what 
kind of person your neighbor is likely to be, for 
you know there are people you never can fra- 
ternize with.” 

“ That you never can fraternize with,” added 
Ira. 

“And I said: ‘We’ll see how they keep the 
place.’ We are very neat people, Mr. Mann, and I 
must say Linden Avenue is a street to be proud 


LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 63 

of. All the tenants are of the refined and better 
class.” 

They had ascended the porch steps by this time. 
There were some large armchairs, and Mr. Mann 
said, “ Will you walk in or sit out here? ” 

“ Oh, out here. We are great believers in pure 
air. It is bad enough to be housed up all winter, 
though we endeavor to have every room thor- 
oughly aired every day. But it seems more social 
to be out of doors in the summer; ‘there is such 
a variety.’ The clouds are continually changing, 
the wind moves among the trees, and the branches 
sway never twice alike; and the trees on this ave- 
nue are very fine. We haven’t allowed them to 
be hacked and trained until they are no longer 
the trees God meant them to be, but mere traves- 
ties. Nature knows pretty well what she is about, 
I take it.” 

“ It is a beautiful spot,” remarked Mr. Mann. 

“ Yes. It was a great farm and meadow in 
the time of my ancestors three and four genera- 
tions back. The Consadines settled here more than 
two hundred years ago, and the Bradleys, the Up- 
hams, and the Geers have all married in until they 
were like one great family. They laid out the 
town at Grafton, and in my father’s time much 
of the property was divided, and some thirty years 


64 the children in the 

ago this was planned for gentlemen’s residences, 
people who had retired from business or given up 
their farms, or come from cities for quiet and 
where they could be sure of not having the shoddy 
element jostle them. There is so much of that 
now in the world, sir. Men who began life as 
errand-boys, or ditchers, or what-not, getting rich 
and aping their betters; men who haven’t even a 
grandfather to fall back upon. We try to keep 
clear of that sort of gentry.” 

Mr. Mann was amused. What would they say 
if they knew he had no pedigree to fall back 
upon? 

Then Mr. Peter Consadine gave him quite a 
detailed account of his family, and his forbears in 
England that seemed to go back to William the 
Conqueror. 

“ We have the whole tree down to the present 
time. When you do us the honor to come over you 
will be interested in seeing it, and we have some 
family portraits two hundred years old, and silver 
of Queen Anne’s time. I think we shall donate the 
curiosities to some historical association, seeing we 
are the last of our branch. A man ought to marry 
and have sons to succeed him, but there is such a 
risk in bringing up sons nowadays. One cannot 
approve of modern education. It does not make 


LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 65 

gentlemen or gentlewomen. And if you had a son 
that insisted upon going to business or out on 
a ranch to mingle with cowboys, your heart would 
be torn with anguish. So we never quite 
dared ” 

“ No, we never quite dared. Women are so 
different from the time of our mothers.” 

So the two old gentlemen prosed on, giving this 
one’s and that one’s pedigree and virtues. They 
were not captious gossips; indeed, it seemed 
as if all of their acquaintances were of the 
way-high-up sort and possessed of all possible 
virtues. 

Then they rose to go, and said they had enjoyed 
the call very much, and cordially invited Mr. Mann 
to return it, which was quite a compliment, for 
they had decided if they had not found him ad- 
missible they would not continue the acquaint- 
ance. 

He laughed a little as the two dapper old gen- 
tlemen trotted down the street; but it was too late 
then to go over to the Firths. 

Mr. Mann was at his post early on Monday 
morning. Two of the workmen had kept Sunday 
in such a fashion that they were good for nothing. 
One was very impudent and was discharged. The 
other turned penitent and promised to come the 


66 THE CHILDREN IN THE 

next morning “ straight as a string.” Late in the 
afternoon word came from Mr. Ross that was not 
encouraging, so Mr. Mann put his “ shoulder to 
the wheel,” as the saying is, and made it go around 
with a rush. It was well that he understood just 
what was to be done or they would have been in 
a sad plight. He would look up a first-class man, 
such as Mr. Ross had been to him. So he did 
not go home all the week. One night he spent 
at Westerley, and found that the rest and fine 
sea air had begun to improve Mr. Ross, and that 
the fever was abating. They were so glad to 
see him that he went down again and spent 
Sunday. 

“ You’ve economized rather closely and done 
too much yourself, Ross,” he said. “ I think I 
have found a fine young fellow, a first-class ma- 
chinist, and I have settled upon his being foreman. 
You need some help.” 

“ But I don’t want to rush ahead too fast. You 
must not lose anything by me, for helping a fellow 
to a good standing-place. It isn’t everybody who 
finds such a friend,” and he pressed Mr. Mann’s 
hand. 

“ Well, working and saving isn’t everything in 
this world. I’ve had five and twenty years of it, 
and now I’ve taken up the other tack. It isn’t 


LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 67 

as if I had a family to provide for, but some- 
times I feel myself a lonely old fellow. ,, 

So a fortnight passed, and he had not had a 
glimpse of the children in the little old red house. 
Maybe they were thinking he was a sort of fraud 
and didn’t mean half that he said. 


CHAPTER V 


A DAY OF HAPPENINGS 

“ Your fortune has come,” announced Linn, as 
he returned home Friday evening. They were all 
around the table eating what Primrose styled 
“ their frugal meal.” Marigold had made a pot 
of cornmeal mush that always came in handy when 
the bread ran short. There was some nice chicken 
gravy, some molasses, and now some milk, so 
they could make three courses with it. 

“ Is there a trunk full ? ” asked Rilla. 

“Trunk full!” disdainfully. “Well, I should 
say! A great bundle sewed up in some old bed- 
ticking, and it looks as if it had come from an 
old garret, sure enough.” 

“ Oh ! Oh ! Oh ! ” were the ejaculations in 
various keys. 

“ You mustn’t look a gift-horse in the mouth, 
I’ve heard,” Marigold said sententiously. 

“ Oh, can we go to wide on the horsey? ” and 
Laurel turned her spoon upside down on the table- 
cloth, which, being of the enameled kind, did not 
suffer much damage. 


68 


THE LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 69 

“ There isn’t any horse, Laurel. Pay attention 
to your supper and don’t muss.” 

“ One dollar and thirty-one cents, ma’am,” an- 
nounced Linn, in a very business-y tone. “ Mr. 
Briggs will bring it up to-morrow morning when 
he goes to Fairfield. I hope it will be worth the 
money.” 

“ O dear,” sighed their mother, who had just 
five dollars and meant to invest it all in shoes. 

“ And school begins a week from Monday, the 
tenth. How many of us are going? ” asked Linn. 
“ Don’t all speak at once or you might bewilder 
me. 

“ You must go,” said his mother, “ and you 
must have some new shoes. You have really out- 
grown yours. You complained of them on Sun- 
day.” 

“Yes. They pinched. They can be handed 
down to Chan. See the economy of having a large 
family. Nothing need be wasted.” 

“ I don’t believe I want to go to school,” Chan 
remarked slowly. 

“ Well, I do,” cried Prim, “ and it’s such fun to 
slide down Cressy’s hill in the winter. And Mari- 
gold and ” she looked up at the eldest sister. 

“ I wonder if you can be spared,” the mother 
said, in a perplexed tone. 


70 THE CHILDREN IN THE 

“ No, I can’t, if you’re going out to work, mom- 
sey. Oh, I wish I could earn some money ! ” ex- 
claimed Rilla. 

“ You will by and by, you’re so handy about 
sewing.” 

“ And I just hate sewing,” announced Prim, 
“ except carpet rags when they’re good and long 
and you’re trying to see whose ball will get done 
first.” 

Mrs. Firth laughed. Then she looked serious. 
She had hoped somehow she could give Amaryllis 
another year’s schooling. And poor Chan — could 
anything be done for him ? He was getting thinner 
and she noticed he was not ready for play any 
more. 

“ What do you suppose is in the bundle ? ” asked 
Marigold. 

“ Seven old dresses that were young in the days 
of Methuselah, six petticoats, ten nightcaps, and 
— what else do old women have, mother? ” 

“ Well, if the dresses will cut over ” began 

Rilla. 

“ They’ve some such fine new things in the store 
— Mr. Beers was down to the city yesterday. Cal- 
icoes with red roses in them, little bits of ones, 
and some blue plaid things ” 

“ Oh, I wish I could have a whole new pretty 


LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 71 

dress ! " exclaimed Goldie. “ I’d like a red cash- 
mere, it’s so soft and warm. Come, children! 
Twins, you must go to bed before Rhoda falls out 
of her chair and cracks her crown or smashes her 
nose. ,, 

“ I ain't sleepy," protested Rhoda. “ An’ I 
want a new red frock ’’ 

“ It won’t do for us all to be in red," declared 
Goldie. “ Though Mrs. Kane bought a whole bolt 
of that brown and white gingham and had 
her four girls dressed alike, and it washed 
horrid ! " 

“ Faded, you mean," said her mother. “ Every- 
thing washes." 

“ Well, I wish it would wash itself — clothes, I 
mean," commented Rilla. “If we could have a 
washing-machine! It would be as easy as churn- 
ing." 

“ I don’t think churning easy, by a long shot," 
declared Linn. ’ “ I churned this morning and I 
thought the butter never would come. Oh, and 
I was to bring home a kettle of buttermilk. I’ll 
run over with it to-morrow morning." 

Goldie put the twins to bed and lay down beside 
them to tell them a story about a cat that had 
three wonderful babies, and fell asleep herself. 
The others kept on wondering what was in the 


72 THE CHILDREN IN THE 

big bundle, and made enough out of hopes to 
clothe the family for a full year. 

Linn ran over early with the buttermilk, and 
Mrs. Briggs sent a piece of boiled ham with it. 
He hung around a little, and presently espied Mr. 
Briggs, and they all ran out to welcome a very 
much soiled bedtick bundle tied about with 
clothesline. 

“ I’ll pay you the railroad charge,” exclaimed 
Mrs. Firth, “ and ” 

“ You’re welcome to my carting. If I was a 
railroad you’d be welcome to t’other as well. I 
hope it’s something wuth while. Mean that your 
part wa’n’t in money.” 

“ I’m obliged to you for the good wish as 
well.” 

“ Oh,” said Chan, with a laugh, “ if you owned 
a railroad you might give us a ride now and then, 
free gratis for nothing.” 

“ That I would, you better believe.” 

It made quite a break in Mrs. Firth’s five dol- 
lars, and though she smiled she sighed inwardly. 

Then they cut the rope, the knots were too hard 
to untie. There was another wrapping in a coarse 
homespun woolen and tow blanket, and then there, 
fell out a motley collection that tumbled over 
Laurel, who was standing too near, and she gave 


LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 73 

out a frightened wail. Goldie rescued her from 
under the avalanche. 

“O dear!” sighed Mrs. Firth, as the children 
pulled out various things. 

“ See here ! ” exclaimed Linn. “ Why won’t 
this make a nice coat for me? Feel how good and 
thick it is. Oh, I’ll try it on.” 

It was a woman’s coat of dark gray. It came 
down to his heels and his arms were lost in the 
sleeves. Chan gave a mirthful shout, then said: 
“ And you can will me yours. Mine can descend 
to Tip.” 

“ Right you are. There’s nothing like having 
some one to take the clothes you outgrow.” 

“ Oh, see here ! ” Goldie pulled out another 
cloak, a blue and black plaid with some straight 
breadths plaited on a yoke. “ Why, this will make 
me a splendid dress ! ” 

“ I once had a cloak like that. It had been 
mother’s,” said Mrs. Firth. 

There were several woolen blankets, there were 
gowns and petticoats, and two shawls, some old 
shoes, and about ten pairs of home-knit woolen 
stockings. Aunt Hitty had left behind her fifty 
pairs. Two silk gowns that the girls went wild 
over, but they had lain so long that they were 
spoiled with yellowish spots and cut on the folds. 


74 THE CHILDREN IN THE 

“ And what’s this — something hard sewed up 
in — well, I guess it’s towels. What can it 
be?” 

That was soon determined. A sugar dish 
and cream jug of something that looked like 
silver. 

“Why, it’s just like the teapot you have, 
mother, and it makes a set. I can shine it up, and 
if we ever should have company to tea — any one 
beside Granny Keen or old Mrs. Betts — and oh, 
two silver spoons ! ” 

“ Yes. Those are Britannia ware. Grand- 
mother sold her two pieces to a woman who went 
half crazy over them and offered her a big price. 
Yes, you can make them look like real silver. 
And oh, my! Here are two black dresses. They 
are faded and shabby, but I may be able to get 
one good one out of them. The sleeves of mine are 
about gone, and I’ve taken off the bottom of the 
skirt a time or two. I’m thankful for them. And 
those blankets will come in good this winter. Oh, 
yes, I guess we’ll have the money’s worth,” with 
her soft, cheery laugh. “ But I don’t see what 
some of the cousins will do with such a lot of old 
stuff.” 

“ Maybe they sent you all the old truck,” sug- 
gested Marigold. “ You see, where there’s eight 


LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 75 

children almost everything will come in handy. 
Only you’ll have to wear all the stockings, as they 
are grown-up ones.” 

“Oh, you can save some for me,” proposed 
Linn. “ Golly ! ain’t they good and thick. They’d 
be the fellows to run through the snow with. And 
now I must be off. Mother, don’t you suppose 
you could get me some new shoes? Mine are 
so short now that I have to turn my toes under. 
I’ll be parrot-toed.” 

“I’ll see. Children, carry these things up in 
the garret. See how late we are with breakfast, 
and it’s Saturday, with ever so much work to do. 
Now do get along, and if you’ll all turn in and 
help I’ll make some buttermilk cookies.” 

They each took a pack and groaned as they 
ascended the rather steep attic stairs. It was all 
one big open garret with a window at each end. 
The girls’ bed stood at the front, and Amaryllis 
had made it quite an inviting room. The back 
part might have compared with old Aunt Hitty’s 
garret, but sometime in the winter they generally 
cleared it up and cut carpet rags from the odds 
and ends that were good for nothing else. 

“ Oh, see here, what a nice big shawl ! ” cried 
Rilla, with an armful of the “ truck.” “ Mother, 
it was what you were wishing for all last winter. 


76 THE CHILDREN IN THE 

Washing wouldn’t hurt it. The things smell gar- 
ret-y.” 

“ We’ll air them out good when we have time. 
Why, the shawl is a perfect godsend to me. I 
won’t need to put an interlining in it,” and she 
laughed cheerily. 

They finally had the place cleared, with no worse 
mishap than Tip falling upstairs and crying as 
usual. 

“ But if you had fallen down you might have 
broken an arm or a leg, and think how much 
worse that would have been ! ” consoled Primrose. 

“ Or you might have broken your neck,” added 
Chan. “ And think what a misfortune that would 
have been. You couldn’t cry any more.” 

Tip sat and rubbed his knee and considered. 

Presently they gathered around the table with 
tremendous appetites and begged they might have 
some of the ham that came last night. 

“ For you see,” expounded Chan, “ that’s clear 
gain. We were not looking for such a thing.” 

“ I thought I’d save it for Sunday dinner,” said 
his mother. 

“Sunday we sha’n’t work much, but now we 
have worked like Trojans. Who were the Tro- 
jans, Rilla?” / 

“ I think they lived somewhere in Greece. And 


LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 77 

there was a great war- Oh, I wish I knew 

lots of things. We’ll ask Linn.” 

After they had breakfast, Chan and Tip went 
out to clean up the chicken-house and pull some 
weeds. Chan could always get more work out 
of Tip, for he generally spiced the labor with 
some wonderful stories about birds and 
animals. 

“ Do you suppose they ever did talk ? ” asked 
Tip. 

“ Why, yes. Don’t Billy and the hens hold 
numerous conversations? The trouble with us is 
that we don’t understand hen language, nor bird 
language, but we do know mostly what Tabby 
says.” 

Billy was the big, handsome Chanticleer. 

Indoors everybody was busy. The twins were 
set out of doors with their playthings. The bread 
was molded up and put in the pans, the beds made, 
the floors mopped up, while the bits of carpet were 
hung out on the fence to air. The cookies were 
made, and how nice they looked with the molasses 
and ginger, “ good enough to eat raw,” Primrose 
said. But oh, when they came out of the oven 
the fragrance was enough to make one’s mouth 
water ! 

“ What ’mells so dood ? ” asked Laurel, coming 


78 THE CHILDREN IN THE 

in. “ Wem playin’ company. We’m dot our ta- 
ble all set an’ Dolly had a bad fall and dot her 
cheek all bu’black. An’ doctor’s tomin’. We ’ant 

some bread an’ some pie an’ some — some ” 

looking around and snuffing up the delicious odor. 

“ Oh, cake ! some little teeny cakes ! ” Rhoda 
was the smartest of the twins. “ Oh, do let’s have 
some an’ we’ll be good — all next week.” 

The mother laughed. “ Yes, you shall have one 
all around. I’m sorry dolly had such a fall. Is 
she badly bruised ? ” 

“ Drefful ! I must hurry back. Maybe it’s 
fever’n ager.” 

Were there ever such good cookies ! They had 
cinnamon and nutmeg in them and a soda biscuit 
rolled very, very fine that did duty for an egg. 
The boys brought in a great basket of lima beans, 
and after the feast they had to wind up with the 
crusts of the fresh bread which Chan declared 
were “ ’licious.” 

By noon you would hardly have known the 
place, it was so spick and span. There was some 
bean soup and a great dish of beans, and the corn 
was boiled on the ear. Rilla washed up the chil- 
dren and had put the twins in their chairs when 
Linn ran in red as a peony and all out of breath. 

“ Here’s a letter. Pete brought it up from the 


LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 79 

store. Do you suppose they want all those old 
traps back ? I’ll bet it’s the two silver spoons ! ” 
“A letter?” Mrs. Firth took it between sur- 
prise and fear and studied the address. 

“ Oh, do open it ! ” exclaimed Rilla impatiently. 
She tore off the end of the envelope. The in- 
closure was rather curiously folded, the ends 
pasted up. When she had worked these open 
something green fluttered out to the floor. 

“ Oh, golly ! It’s five dollars ! ” and Linn picked 
it up, dancing round crazily. 

“ Five dollars!” Mrs. Firth dropped into a 
chair and felt as if she should faint away. All the 
children crowded round with : “ Let’s see ! let’s 
see ! Is it truly money? ” 

“ Don’t tear it to pieces, children.” Then Mrs. 
Firth began to read her letter. 

It was rather stiff and formal, but the gist of 
it was that a man traveling round the country in 
search of old things had spied out the great awk- 
ward, high-post bedstead and the bureau and had 
offered thirty dollars for them, which was just 
five dollars apiece, as the things in the house were 
to be equally divided. Mr. Rice was going to 
alter the old house into a barn and build a new 
house now that he had disposed of the old truck. 
Not one of them would give the old things house- 


8o THE CHILDREN IN THE 


room, so he thought he had made a good bargain, 
but surely his hair would have turned white if he 
had known what the purchaser obtained for them. 
Here was her share of the proceeds, and would 
she acknowledge the receipt as soon as possible? 

“ Hurray ! Hurray ! ” and Linn danced around, 
whirling the note over his head. “ Momsey, it’s 
grand! worth the dollar and thirty cents. Now 
I can surely have my new shoes ! ” 

“ O dear ! Come to dinner, children. I’m 
clean bewildered! I’m sure I never dreamed of 
such a thing.” 

“ But I did ! ” declared Tip. “ I’ve dreamed and 
dreamed of that ’ere pot of gold at the end of the 
rainbow, and there ain’t been any rainbow in ever 
so long.” 

“ You had better come and dream over an ear 
of corn,” returned Primrose, laughing. 

“ Well, I must run back,” said Linn. “ Momsey, 
can I tell them about it?” 

“ Oh, yes.” She was beginning to feel quite 
proud over a legacy of real money. 

The bean-soup was splendid with all the things 
in it. Mrs. Firth might have written a cook-book 
on soups alone, she could vary them so and always 
have them palatable. 

The lima beans were delightful, although they 


LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 81 

didn’t have a lump of butter in them, but she 
dredged in a little flour, and the corn was sweet 
and soft. One by one the children fell out, not 
even having room for the dish of peaches Mari- 
gold had brought in. 

Then the dishes were washed again, and the 
children had their bath and were put in their next 
week’s clothes. After that they had to be careful. 
Chan took his rocking-chair out on the grass-plot 
and his fairy-book, so battered it hardly held to- 
gether, and read aloud. Prim sat on the grass, 
knitting. Tip was down on his stomach wiggling 
his toes in the grass. Marigold was upstairs ex- 
amining the treasures. 

“ Oh, isn’t it just splendid ! ” Amaryllis was 
hugging her mother and dropping kisses on the 
white forehead. “ Five dollars that you didn’t 
have to earn, mother dear! What a day it has 
been ! ” 

“ Yes. I ought to go down and get Linn and 
go over to the store. I hate to have his feet so 
crippled, and he may get corns. And Chan can 
take the shoes. I’m clear full of thankfulness. 
I don’t think I could hold another thing to-day.” 

Rilla thought of one more joy she would be 
glad to hold. If they could know about Mr. Mann 
and that he was not “ funning ” when he prom- 


82 THE CHILDREN IN THE 

ised them the ride. He was so different from 
the farmers about, and she knew now, as Linn 
had heard, that he was truly a rich man. Of 
course he really couldn’t care for them, there were 
so many, and the house was old and shabby, and 
— and — she winked hard 

“ Hello! hello!” 

Wagon wheels crunched but could not drown 
the sound of the merry voice. She sprang to the 
window and wiped her eyes on her apron. How 
warm it was ! 

There he was in the midst of the children, and 
had Laurel in his arms, and there was such a 
hubbub you couldn’t distinguish a word, only 
Prim’s clear voice saying: 

“We thought you were never coming any 
more.” 

Had they really thought about him? A warm 
throb shot through his heart. Oh, what eager, 
charming faces! 

“ I’ve been away. Where is your mother? ” 

“ Mother! Mother! ” called a chorus of voices. 

She smoothed her hair a little and took off her 
apron. Somehow Mrs. Firth never looked really 
untidy. 

“ How do you do, madam ? I hope you didn’t 
lose faith in me. I’ve had to be in the city on 


LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 83 

business and looking after my sick partner, and 
this is the first chance I’ve had to keep my prom- 
ise about the ride. And now we’ll go off on a 
regular picnic, if you are willing. I’ve brought 
a lot of goodies along.” 

“ But ” Mrs. Firth looked at the children. 

Yet she was glad they were clean and decently 
dressed, even if Tip and Chan were barefoot, and 
the twins were barelegged. They both hated 
stockings in the summer, and it saved in more 
ways than one. 

“ There are no ‘ buts,’ madam. Bonnie’s had 
a week’s rest and feels fine and frisky. A good 
load will steady her a bit. Have you all been 
well? Why, you look like a garden of blooms. 
And here’s my flower girl.” 

He came and shook hands with Amaryllis, and 
she blushed up to her eyes, ashamed of the rather 
hard thoughts she had had about him. 

“ But you can’t take them all ? ” 

“ I must go yidin’,” and Laurel clasped her 
small arms about his leg and he caught her up 
again. 

“I love ’ou.” She laid her soft cheek against 
his and he kissed the rosy mouth. 

“ Oh, children ! ” began their mother. 

“ We haven’t much time to spare, you see. I 


84 THE CHILDREN IN THE 

had a number of things to look after before I 
started. Now how shall we get you packed in? ” 

“ You never can take them all ! ” 

“ Well, let’s see.” He had the two-seat surrey 
with the canopy top. “ The two boys — and this 
is Marigold, isn’t it? — can sit on the back seat. 
Then this one with her knitting is so small — 
and ” he looked over at Amaryllis. 

“ I’d rather the twins would go. You gave me 
that nice ride, you remember ” 

He arranged the three on the back seat, and 
lifted up Primrose. “ There’s room for you, too. 
If you have some cushions we can put the twins 
down in the front ” 

“If you didn’t mind, I’d like Rilla to go to 
the store with me this afternoon, and I think 
you’ll have load enough without her,” began the 
mother. 

“ Yes,” rejoined Amaryllis, with a soft, persua- 
sive smile. 

“ Then I’ll have to take you and your mother 
some other time.” Her sweetness touched him. 

They hoisted up the twins. Primrose placed 
her arm about Rhoda. Mr. Mann seated himself 
and put Laurel between his knees. 

“ Now, children,” said their mother, standing 
beside the carriage, “ be good and don’t make any 


LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 85 

trouble. I’m sure I don’t know how to thank 


you 

“ Don’t you worry about that, nor them. After 
being in a factory for a fortnight I’m ready for 
a lark. Why, you never know how splendid the 
country is till you’ve had to stop in the hot, noisy, 
dirty city with all its sights and smells. It’s like 
getting into heaven. And now where shall we 
go?” 

Marigold’s eyes were eager. She wanted to say : 
“ Oh, take us over to Grafton and show us your 
house,” but that seemed very forward. Chan 
spoke up. 

“ Let us go over to the picnic grounds, where 
they take the Sunday-school. There’s a great 
flat rock that makes a table, and some other rocks 
and a waterfall ” 

“ Only in rainy times,” interposed Prim. 

“ Well, there’s swings of wild grapevines, and 
I guess there’s some ripe grapes, and it’s pretty 
and woodsy.” 

“ I don’t believe I’ve seen it. Is it anywhere 
near Boyce’s pond ? ” 

“ It’s ’way down under it. That’s where the 
waterfall gets its water from. And you go through 
the road over to the woods where they cut trees 
in the winter, instead of going uphill.” 


86 THE LITTLE OLD RED HO USE 


“ I’ve wondered where that road led to. Yes, 
we’ll go there.” 

He turned Bonnie around, and they shouted out 
“ good-by ” as if they were starting for the north 
pole. They were rather quiet at first, but the twins 
began a merry chatter and suddenly Laurel said: 

“ Oh, I did ought to have b’ought Dolly. She’ll 
be ’onesome and cwy.” 

“ You know her cheek was so bruised,” and 
Marigold smiled. “ Rilla ’ll take good care of 
her.” 

Then Laurel detailed how Dolly had fallen and 
bruised her cheek. “ An’ she was so nice and 
white before. Rilla made her all over. An’ she’s 
dot turly hair an’ bu eyes.” 

Soon they all began to talk. It was a pleasant 
drive, and Chan pointed out where the road turned 
off from that going up the hill, which was a ridge 
of the mountain some miles off. 


CHAPTER VI 


A PICNIC FOR BOTH PARTIES 

“ Come now, Rilla, we’ll get ready and go,” 
said Mrs. Firth. “ I’ll take some stockings and 
Linn’s coat and trousers so he will look a little 
decent. He’d rather walk down there barefoot. 
He said the shoes hurt him cruelly on Sunday.” 

Mrs. Briggs and her mother were as much 
interested in the five dollars as if it had been a 
hundred. 

“ Though I do say,” commented Aunt Patty, 
“ that farm ought to have been sold and you all 
had a slice. ’Tain’t fair to leave everything to 
the men folks. An’ it seems to me there ought 
to have been more spoons and such. You wasn’t 
there, so you really can’t tell how much there was. 
An’ is the old truck good for anything? The idea 
of any one’s wanting to buy an old high-post 
bedstead ! Jane, you better try and sell your two 
up garret.” 

“ I’d just like to,” returned Mrs. Briggs. 

Linn washed and “ smarted up ” a little while 
87 


88 THE CHILDREN IN THE 


his mother was going over the things she could 
recall. Then they started for the store. Ready- 
made shoes had come quite into favor, though 
it was admitted they didn’t wear as well, neither 
did they cost as much. 

Linn put on his stockings and took good care 
that the shoes were plenty big enough. Then 
Mrs. Firth went over to the drygoods counter. 

“ Now, Rilla,” she began, “ we’ll look over these 
ginghams and see if we can find a pretty one. 
You’ve been such a good, steady girl.” 

“ Oh, mother!” Rilla’s eyes shone with de- 
light. 

The new goods were very pretty. Not the block 
pattern merely, but broken lines and colors inter- 
woven in a really artistic manner. They mightn’t 
stand washing as well, but they certainly were 
very tempting. Amaryllis hardly knew which to 
choose, but Linn helped, and they went home two 
delighted children. 

Of course Rilla could not help thinking about 
the ride, but she was so glad to have Mr. Mann 
come back to them that she did not feel a bit 
jealous. And he didn’t despise them because they 
were poor and lived in a little old house, neither 
did he think the twins were two too many, as she 
had sometimes. She never would again. She 


LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 89 

would believe with mother that God would take 
care of them all. Why, He was taking care of 
them. Mrs. Bayles’s two children had been sick 
nearly all last winter with scarlet fever, and the 
minister’s little girl had bronchitis, and for a 
fortnight could not speak loud. Yes, God did take 
care of them. 

And they were having a splendid, gay time 
with the ride. But by and by Rhoda said, “ Lai,” 
her abbreviation, “ you come and sit here and let 
me stay there by Mr. Mann.” 

Laurel looked up. “ I des tan’t,” she said de- 
cisively. 

“ Can’t she, Goldie ? And — and — he lets her 
drive ” — and she slid down from her seat. 

Laurel had put her little hand on the reins, and 
Mr. Mann had only smiled. 

Marigold drew Rhoda back, and she began to 
cry. “ Oh, what a naughty girl ! ” said the elder 
sister. 

“ There is room enough for both of them 
here,” rejoined Mr. Mann, holding her with his 
free hand and guiding her around, “ and you shall 
help drive.” 

She was all smiles then. 

The road was shady, with trees on either side. 
It was not much more than a wagon road. Pres- 


9 o THE CHILDREN IN THE 

ently, on the north side, it began to grow rocky, 
rising higher and higher, in some places almost 
barren, then spaces of shrubbery and even wild 
flowers. It was quite a picturesque dell. You 
could see by the moisture at the roadside that at 
times there might be quite a little rill. It was so 
shut in that there were only glimpses of the sun. 

“ Why, I had no idea there was such a pretty 
spot here,” said Mr. Mann smilingly. “ So, you 
see, there are two sides to everything.” 

“ And when there isn’t any other side there is 
an inside,” returned Marigold. 

“ That’s so,” nodding, much amused. 

And now the ledge of rock grew higher and 
seemed to turn partly round; just here a small 
stream came tumbling down the sheer descent, 
and then wound round a tuft of shrubbery to take 
another fall and find its way to the roadside. 

" It’s splendid in the spring,” said Marigold. 
“ Some of the men let you come up when they 
are drawing logs in the winter and this is all 
icicles. You can climb down from the pond side — 
the boys sometimes do. Linn has.’ We’d often 
come out here, but it is too far to walk both ways.” 

“ I should think so.” 

“ Here we are,” cried Chan, “ and there’s the 
table and some seats.” 


LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 91 

That was what it looked like. A great spread 
of flat stone and ridges back of it like a series 
of steps, but after the first two or three, very 
jagged. And further on was a great reach of 
rhododendrons in their pointed branches of next 
year’s buds and glossy leaves. 

“ Father used to come here,” said Marigold. 
“ He brought down all our rhododendrons, and 
that’s what Rhody was named for. I wish he’d 
called her Flora, and that’s near enough flowers 
and is such a beautiful name. And I’d like to be 
called Lily. Do you think Marigold a pretty name 
for a girl ? I don’t mind Goldie so much.” 

“ You are all a garden of flowers. I don’t be- 
lieve I want any of you changed.” 

Laurel had fallen asleep. 

“ You jump out and take her,” said Mr. Mann. 

“ We can get out,” said Primrose with a spring. 

Laurel roused and clutched the strong arm. 

“ I ’ant to tay wis you,” in a very sleepy tone. 

“ Yes, dear,” he said. It seemed so sweet and 
strange to have a little child in his arms — a baby 
girl that he used to long for years ago. 

They all scrambled out. Chan felt rather stiff, 
and rubbed his leg. Mr. Mann tied Bonnie, though 
she was hardly likely to run away, and then lifted 
out the basket of good things. 


92 THE CHILDREN IN THE 

“Now, you girls must set the table; Tip, can 
you go over yonder and get a pail of water?” 
handing out a small tin pail. 

“ Oh, isn’t it splendid ! ” Prim danced around. 
“ And such lots of good things ! ” 

“ Prim, do behave. You act as if you had 
never seen anything before. Chan, are you 
tired?” and Marigold’s voice was full of solici- 
tude. 

“ I’ll walk around a bit and get rested. It’s 
just — just ” 

“ Supersplacious,” said Prim, laughing, “ and 
salubrious and salutiferous and salutary. I’ve been 
studying the back part of the speller. I mean to 
train for a spelling match.” 

“ I think you’ll do,” laughed Mr. Mann in re- 
turn. “ And an inventor of new words.” 

What an array of tempting things ! Cakes with 
white icing and red icing, cakes with jelly in the 
middle, nuts in a square of something that looked 
like white cream, and as for candies, they had 
never seen the like of half of them. Nuts shelled 
out, except the paper almonds, dainties enough to 
upset the ordinary stomach, a man’s way of pro- 
viding a feast. How they laughed and made 
queer comments and suggestions, and how the 
goodies disappeared! 


mm *;. — ■ T" 



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“Now, YOU GIRLS MUST SET THE TABLE.” — Page 92 










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LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 93 

“ Now you must run around awhile to shake 
down all this stuff. Fll keep the twins, and I 
want Chan. And the rest of the dainties you may 
take home. Or would you rather go with them, 
Chan? ” 

“ Well — I think I’ll stay with you.” 

The others started off. They whooped to make 
echoes, they found some swings, and some grapes, 
but they were not enjoyable after the sweet 
things. 

“ And they’re likely to make your tongue sore 
unless they are dead ripe,” Marigold announced. 
“ Oh, we might take some home. They make 
splendid sauce.” 

“ What are you thinking about, Chan? ” 

The boy’s face was grave, rather sad. 

“ That it was splendid to have plenty of money. 
You can make so many people happy,” the boy 
said simply. 

And happiness was such a great thing! 

“ You can do other things as well.” 

“ But you have to use money for them. Why, 
if you didn’t have money you couldn’t buy seeds, 
and then you wouldn’t have any garden, and if 
you hadn’t any money to buy flour with, you 
couldn’t have any bread, nor clothes, and I w&nt 
to be big and well so I can earn some.” 


94 THE CHILDREN IN THE 

“ I wish you’d tell me about your hip. What 
does the doctor say?” 

“ Well — he didn’t know, he told mother. He 
said it wasn’t broken. There’s a doctor over to 
Ridgewood who knows all about such things, but 
he charges twenty-five dollars to talk to you. 
Mother thinks she can save it up by and by. But 
I’m afraid. I don’t want to be cut up,” and he 
shivered. 

“ Perhaps you wouldn’t need to be cut up. You 
want to grow up straight and strong, don’t you ? ” 
and Mr. Mann’s smile was encouraging. 

“ Maybe I’ll outgrow it, the doctor said.” 

“ Do you think you do — any ? ” 

“ I want mother to think so. I’m not going to 
school this winter, it’s so far, and makes me so 
tired, and sometimes I stumble and down I go. 
You see, it feels as if my leg would drop out, 
but it never does — it can’t, you know. I’m going 
to study some. Prim she’s just great on studying 
and will tell me lots of things. She comes out 
and helps me garden and lets mother think I do 
it all. You don’t believe that’s real wrong, do 
you? For when mother says, ‘Chan, little boy, 
how much stronger you are growing,’ I don’t say 
anything, so we don’t either of us tell any 
story.” 


LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 95 

How brave the little fellow was! Adonijah 
Mann winked his eyes hard as if the dust had 
blown into them, but the road was largely dried 
grass. 

“ Oh, look at those twins ! ” Chan sprang up 
and winced a little. “ They’ll half kill themselves. 
You see, they’re not used to candy and fine 
things.” 

He limped over to the children, and pulled them 
sharply away from the pile of goodies they were 
to take home. 

“You gormandizing little pigs!” he ex- 
claimed. “ Don’t you know we saved that for 
momsey? You’ll be sick and have such a horrid 
pain in your stomach, worse than any spanking 
you ever had ! ” 

Laurel began to cry. Rhoda stood her ground 
sturdily. 

“ The man said they were for us. He said, 
‘ eat all you want.’ ” 

“But you mustn’t make pigs of yourselves or 
you’ll have to go in a pen. And oh, what faces and 
sticky hands ! ” 

Chan gathered the remnants and put them into 
a paper bag. Mr. Mann laughed. Rhoda’s face 
turned very red. 

“ Now let me wash you a bit.” He went over 


96 THE CHILDREN IN THE 

and dipped his handkerchief in the little runlet, 
and soon had cleanliness restored. Then there 
was another wail. 

“ Oh, that’s Tip. If he had gone home with- 
out a crying spell I should have thought he was 
sick. It’s queer, but Tip is the best little fellow 
when he has a cold or sore throat — he saves all 
his tears for well times.” 

“ Do you suppose he is crying for his mother ? ” 
There was a humorous glint in Mr. Mann’s eyes. 
Chan laughed. 

“ Maybe they won’t swing him or maybe he 
wants to come down and have some more goodies, 
or he may have scratched his hand or stubbed his 
toe.” 

“ He tan’t have any more doodies. They’m 
for mama,” interposed Laurel. 

“ Oh, you’re very considerate now ! Let us go 
and see what the row is about.” 

There was a thicket fairly overrun with grape- 
vines, growing up in the tall trees, crisscross and 
every way. Several were natural swings. Mari- 
gold had fashioned some not very comfortable 
seats out of hemlock boughs. She and Prim could 
stand up and swing, but one of them had to sit 
and hold Tip. That wasn’t so much fun for 
them. 


LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 97 

“ Want to wide in tree-horsey?” appealed 
Laurel. 

“ ’Tain’t a horse, and you couldn’t hold on,” 
interposed Rhoda. “ I could. See my hands how 
big they are ! ” 

“ I’ll give you a little swing in my lap, only 
you must hold tight to me. Chan, come and push 
us,” said Marigold. 

The sun has put out his lamp, 

The mean and miserable scamp. 

And we soon will have to decamp,” 

declared Primrose, “ only don’t let’s hurry.” 

The sun had dropped down the other side of 
the great hill, and the woods were in a purplish 
gloom. Mr. Mann consulted his watch. 

When Rhoda had taken her turn, Goldie lifted 
up Laurel. It was an uncomfortable seat, and 
Laurel wasn’t as keen about holding on as her 
twin. She said presently, “ I think we ought to 
go home.” 

“ One more for me,” begged Tip. 

“ Not another one. Now, Tip, if you cry again 
you shall never, never go on another picnic with 
us! And two nevers are as much as a hundred 
years,” declared Prim decisively. 

“ Yes, I think we had better start,” said Mr. 
Mann, going to unfasten Bonnie. 


98 THE CHILDREN IN THE 

Tip sniveled a little. 

“ This is a lovely spot,” exclaimed Mr. Mann. 
“ And where does the road lead to ? ” 

“ Oh, it’s just for hauling logs. It goes a long 
way up.” 

Bonnie whinnied as they came near. Her mas- 
ter patted her nose. 

“ What does she say ? Can you tell horse 
talk?” asked Rhoda. 

The master laughed. “ She says now she 
would like to go home and have her supper.” 

“ I don’t want any supper. I’m just going 
straight to my little trundle bed,” and Rhoda gave 
a great yawn. 

Chan fed Bonnie some wisps of grass, while 
Mr. Mann was getting her ready. They put in 
the basket, sadly depleted now, but then there had 
been six hungry children indulging in a feast of 
good things such as do not fall to the lot of 
country youngsters every day. 

“ Mr. Mann,” began Marigold, “ I think Prim 
and I had better sit on the back seat and 
hold the twins. They’ll be asleep in five 
minutes.” 

“ But you ” studying the pleasant face. 

“ Oh, I’ve held them many a time. I know 
about sleepy babies.” 


LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 99 

There was a smiling light in her merry blue 
eyes. 

So they were packed in. Tip and Chan were 
delighted above measure to sit on the front seat, 
though Chan rather envied Tip the privilege of 
snuggling up to Mr. Mann. The orange and 
scarlet in the west faded out, and grayish clouds 
went drifting slowly over the sky. Bonnie trotted 
along, she knew she was on the homeward road, 
but when she reached the lane she did not want 
to turn down. 

“ You can soon come back again, old girl,” said 
her master. 

Mrs. Firth and the two older children were 
on the doorstep waiting, and there was a cheerful 
light shining through the window. 

Tip was so sound asleep that he dropped down 
in a little heap. Linn carried him in and tumbled 
him on the old settee, then ran out again. Mr. 
Mann was lifting the babies out and depositing 
them in safe arms. 

“ We've had just the most splendid time,” began 
Prim, “ and we brought home some of it. We 
played tea on the rock, and we wished you and 
Rilla were there. We raced and ran and swung 
and climbed, but we didn't dast to eat many wild 
grapes, they weren’t quite ripe. And we yelled 


100 THE CHILDREN IN THE 


and hurrahed like wild Indians. There never was 
anything like it, the Sunday-school picnic couldn’t 
hold a candle to it. And, Mr. Mann, you are the 
splendidest ’ ’ 

Prim talked straight on, not minding what the 
others were saying. Mrs. Firth was trying to 
express her gratitude. 

“ I don’t know but you may have trouble in 
the night,” the host was saying. “ You see, I don’t 
understand much about children. I believe plain 
bread and butter is best for them, but there were 
sweets of all sorts, and you must pardon me if 
I’ve stuffed them with the wrong things. I’ll 
drive over to-morrow and inquire.” 

“ Oh, don’t feel alarmed. You were so very 
good to give them the pleasure. I can’t thank 
you enough. I wish there was something we could 
do in return. Why, it’s almost like the fairy 
stories the children read aloud sometimes. I do 
hope they haven’t set you quite crazy. You see 
I’m used to them, having had them by degrees, 
as one may say, and they are always dear to their 
mother.” 

Chan and Prim and Marigold said their good- 
bys over again and again, and patted Bonnie’s 
neck until she started off. Then they came in 
and helped undress the twins, who never said a 


LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE ioi 

word, but Tip cried a little and said, “ I want my 
muver.” 

“ Dear lamb, mother has you safe and sound/’ 
and she kissed him many times. 

“ I just want some plain bread and butter, — rye 
bread,” said Primrose. “ I’m sweet all the way 
through, and I want something to settle it.” 

They had to examine Linn’s new shoes and 
Rill’s dress, which Marigold declared was pretty 
enough for a party gown and looked almost like 
Mrs. Provost’s silk. 

After they were upstairs they talked about Mr. 
Mann in half-whispers and with burning cheeks. 

“ It’s a shame we said such nasty things about 
him,” confessed Marigold in deepest penitence. 
“ That he was just making fun because we were 
poor, and that he couldn’t care anything about us, 
and that we knew he never would come, for we 
were a set of wild Arabs. And he was so sweet 
to the twins, and never found a word of fault 
though we carried on like all-possessed. O dear! 
I don’t believe any one ever had a better time, 
no matter how rich they were!” 

“ I’m so glad he is coming to-morrow ! ” re- 
turned Amaryllis. “We must all be in our best. 
And oh, wasn’t it lucky the children were all 
washed and dressed clean ! ” 


102 THE CHILDREN IN THE 


“ And they looked so horrid that day they were 
out on the step crying. Oh, if we were only a 
little richer and mother didn’t have to go out 
sewing and some good fairy would send us five 
dollars now and then! Rill, I’m so glad you 
have that spandy new frock,” and she almost 
squeezed the breath out of her sister. “ Did you 
ever know such a day in all our lives ! ” 

Amaryllis never did. 

Bonnie trotted cheerfully homeward and greeted 
Dan with a whinny. Mr. Mann, not having stuffed 
himself, was glad to eat a supper of the most 
delicious bread and butter and cold chicken. And 
he interspersed it with little laughs, admitting that 
he, too, had never had a better time. How bright 
and queer and funny they all were ! 

Only it made the house seem lonesomer, and 
the old owl in the great pine tree kept saying, 
“ To who! to who — who — who!” as if he really 
were asking a question. 

Well, he would like two of them, Chan, and 
have a doctor straighten out his hip and make his 
leg strong. He had such a sweet, almost pathetic 
voice, such a winsome, appealing face. But he 
could hardly choose between saucy, daring Prim 
and Marigold. Of course Mrs. Firth would need 
Amaryllis to help her look after the others, and 


LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 103 

if some way he could give them a little income. 
True, he might make their lives easier, but to have 
a son growing up like Mr. Bradley down the street, 
and a sweet, young daughter who would come and 
twine her arms about his neck, and — yes — kiss 
him. H'e was hungry for real, demonstrative 
love, something that had never been in his life. 
And why shouldn't he spend his money for it? 
He didn’t want any finer house, he would keep 
another horse, and the boy should learn to ride. 
Maybe the girl would like a piano. Yes, he was 
fond of music and he had thought of one of those 
new-fangled things that almost played itself when 
you put in the music. Would it be silly for 
a sort of common, middle-aged man to have 
one? 

What a delightful home it would make ! There 
might be twenty or thirty years, and it would com- 
pensate for that narrow, arid beginning. There 
was something more inspiring than laying up 
treasures for one’s self, it was asking a neighbor 
to come in and share, and if the neighbor were a 
little child there would be years when one could 
do and plan. Last year he had given the children 
at an asylum a treat, and watched their delighted 
faces. Even then he had wished for one. This 
Christmas was not so far off — four months hardly. 


io 4 THE LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 


What if two little children came and sat by his 
fireside? They should hang up their stockings 
of course. There should be an old-fashioned 
Santa Claus and he would believe in it with 
them. 


CHAPTER VII 


MR. MANN’S VISIT 

The children, with the exception of the twins, 
had gone to Sunday-school. They, in plain white 
frocks, had their little chairs out of doors, and 
were visiting each other as they often did. Laurel 
had her doll, whose cheek had somewhat recovered 
from its bruise. Rhoda had a picture book, made 
of cloth, and pictures painted in it, and they were 
discoursing upon a marvelous journey they had 
made. Mrs. Firth sat by the window reading, 
the only time she found for such an indulgence. 

She had accepted life with a cheerfulness that 
had made the wheels of labor revolve more easily 
than a feeling of protest would have done. She 
had loved her husband sincerely. He was a man 
out of place, he had a mental equipment for a 
much higher sphere. Yet this sweet, pretty school 
teacher had such a decided preference for him — 
he was so superior in refinement to the country 
lads of Denby, and they had many tastes in com- 
mon. Of course Bessy had to stay and care for 
her grandmother, and then David Firth found 
105 


io6 THE CHILDREN IN THE 


himself tied, even if the fast coming babies had 
not strengthened the chain. She was not the high 
order of woman that modern education pretends 
to make, but she did her duty as she saw it in 
a praiseworthy manner. 

People began to advise now that she should 
do something with Amaryllis. Some of the neigh- 
bors would have taken her for a dollar a week, 
but Mrs. Firth dreaded to break up her household. 
For this year at least she would go on. She saw 
her way quite clear for the winter, and if she 
went out sewing Amaryllis was surely needed at 
home. 

The next sorrow to the loss of her husband 
was Chandler’s accident. For a while he seemed 
to improve, but her heart ached now with the 
certainty that he was slipping back. Dr. Breen 
frankly admitted that he was not up in the new 
methods. He could set a broken limb, but this 
plainly was not broken. They had used liniments, 
but the rubbing he recommended hurt the little 
lad, and his mother’s heart was tender. 

She rose when she saw Bonnie and her driver, 
and came out to greet her visitor with an old- 
fashioned sort of courtesy, and said she was glad 
to see him, and she hoped he was none the worse 
for his kindness of yesterday. 


LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 107 

“ No, indeed. I never had a better time. I 
begin to think I should have been the father of 
a family, but we never happened to have any, and 
my wife didn’t seem to care for children or I 
might have adopted some. A man misses them 
when he comes to middle life. They are such 
an interest.” 

“ Oh, they are, they are ! Why, without them 
a woman wouldn’t be much better than an old 
maid.” 

“ And the twins had no upset in the night ? 
I was rather afraid ” 

“ They thrashed about a good deal but slept 
without a whimper, and sometimes one or the 
other does cry in the night. No, they were none 
the worse, though they don’t often get such a 
feast,” laughing pleasantly. “ They never had 
anything like it. It was very good of you.” 

She raised her pretty, soft brown eyes. There 
was a touch of pink in her cheeks. Her black 
and white cambric dress was neat, and seemed to 
set her off much more than the dingy black. 

“ I suppose I may tie my horse to the tree, 
though Bonnie is good at standing. I’m glad to 
find you alone — I came for a little talk.” 

“ Yes. Then please to walk in. We’re not 
very grand. This was grandmother’s old house. 


io8 THE CHILDREN IN THE 


My parents died when I was a little girl, and she 
always took care of me. She was as good as gold, 
and she left the house to me and the children. 
There really wasn’t any one else, you see,” and 
the sweet smile overspread her face. “ When hus- 
band was alive he kept it up in good order, patch- 
ing and painting. It makes a great difference 
when the man has gone.” 

“ Yes, it must, it must.” But the room was 
clean and neat, there were some really good pic- 
tures, and a bowl of flowers stood on a little stand, 
while the settee was covered with a red and black 
shawl of Aunt Hitty’s; they had found use for 
one article, and it really renewed its youth. At 
the lower end was the dining-table with some of 
the chairs around it. The mantel had two curious 
vases that were really antiques, a pair of tall, brass 
candlesticks, snuffers and tray that shone like gold, 
and a pitcher in very much ornamented luster- 
ware. 

He came in and sat down after he had spoken 
to the twins. He was such a straightforward fel- 
low that he plunged into the business at once. 

“ I want to hear about your little boy,” he said, 
“the one called Chan.” 

“ Yes. His name is Chandler. It was grand- 
mother’s name, and she was dead then. Is it — 


LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 109 

about his hip? He was such a nice, spry little 
fellow before that happened. And I’m afraid it’s 
growing worse.” 

“ Tell me what you have done?” 

It was a very simple story. Everybody had 
been kind and sympathetic. There was a doctor 
at Ridgewood Dr. Breen wanted her to see, and 
she went over there, but he asked twenty-five 
dollars to make an examination, and she said, with 
a blush, she had not been able to save it up yet. 

“ They do such wonderful things in hospitals 
nowadays ” 

“ Oh, I couldn’t think of his going to a hos- 
pital ! ” she interrupted. “ And all alone ? Oh, 
he wouldn’t, I’m sure ! ” 

She had the inexperienced terror of a hospital, 
he saw that, so he must go slowly. He had been 
used to managing and advising men, but women 
were different. Mrs. Ross he considered sensible 
and reasonable. The woman he knew best had 
been quietly obstinate, and found many ingenious 
ways to thwart him. Earning and saving were her 
cardinal principles. He had come to like Mrs. 
Alden very much. 

He felt now he must give up his ideas in part 
and go slowly, take a new tack. He had con- 
siderable adaptiveness. 


Iio THE CHILDREN IN THE 

“ Oh, the cities couldn’t do without hospitals,” 
he said in a cordially approving tone. “ People 
live in such crowds that there is no room to take 
care of a sick person, and the doctors are learning 
all the time. They are tenderer, too. They save 
limbs, they straighten crooked legs and crooked 
backs, and make sound bodies when they can, 
instead of having people suffer all their 
lives.” 

There was a sound of voices, and a throng 
put in its appearance fresh from Sunday-school. 
A well-looking group, six children with rosy faces, 
except Chan, who looked quite languid. 

Marigold made a spring into the room. 

“ Oh, Mr. Mann ! ” and she held out both hands. 
“ I’m so glad you have come ! Will you tell 
mother that we weren’t very bad and trouble- 
some yesterday? She’s so afraid we worried 
you.” 

He laughed heartily. “ It would take more than 
a few youngsters, I think. I told Mrs. Alden about 
you — she’s my housekeeper and as nice as they 
make ’em, and she wants to see you. So we’re 
not frightened. I wonder if some of you won’t 
come over and make me a visit? I haven’t seen 
this one but just a moment one day,” and he 
held out his hand to Linn, who blushed even to 


LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE hi 

his ears, thinking how he looked the day he had 
run over from the store. “ You’ve a nice lot of 
them, ma’am, — Mrs. Firth,” in a little confusion. 
“ Don’t you think you could spare a few of them 
now and then to come over and visit me? ” 

Mrs. Firth blushed under his quick glance. 
Why, it didn’t seem as if she could be mother 
of this eager group. 

Primrose plucked up courage. There were very 
few things that abashed her. 

“ I should like to see your house and the — the 
lady. I s’pose it’s as nice as the parsonage. But 
it seems queer to live all alone.* I shouldn’t like 
it.” 

“ I don’t like it either,” his eyes twinkling. 

That nonplussed Prim for the moment. Then 
she subjoined, “ Why do you do it? ” 

“ Primrose ! ” in a deprecating tone from her 
mother. 

“ Well — because I haven’t found just the ones 
I’ve wanted. I’ve been looking around among 
orphan asylums and homes, and a while ago my 
partner’s wife, Mrs. Ross, brought up her two 
little girls for a visit, and we had a nice time, 
but there were only two of them, so I couldn’t 
keep one, and if I’d kept both what would their 
mother have done ? ” 


1 12 THE CHILDREN IN THE 


Tip edged round by his mother and eyed Mr. 
Mann suspiciously. 

“ There are so many of you,” he said laugh- 
ingly, and the dimple in his cheek deepened. 
“ Now two of you might come, and when you 
went home two more. We might begin with 

Linn here — and ” He glanced around to 

Chan. 

“ Oh, I’d like to come,” Linn replied eagerly. 
“ But — next week school begins, and I don’t want 
to miss that. And this week Mrs. Briggs bespoke 
me special. She’s going to clean house. The men 
folks are wanted in the field, and Lida’s all crippled 
up with rheumatism and can’t help, only she can 
sit round and cook. But there’s such a sight of 
things up in the garret to be moved about, and 
the running up and down. If I could come Satur- 
day when mother didn’t want me,” looking up 
questioningly. 

“ Yes, I’ll take you Saturday and Sunday, and 
send you over Monday morning in time. I might 
bring Chan over a day or two beforehand. And 
then two girls. Why, I shall be quite merry. 
How about that, Primrose? Will you and Mari- 
gold come ? ” 

“ I turn too,” and Laurel laid her dolly on Mr. 
Mann’s knee. “ I bing Dolly.” 


LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 113 

“ So you shall, little one.” 

“ Who’ll take care of her?’’ asked Rhoda, 
“ She can’t dress herself. I can. I’m bigger than 
Laurel. And I can do a good many things, and 
I’m learning to read.” 

“ Then that’s settled. You two will come and 
stay a whole week. Marigold and Primrose will 
come and stay a week to keep me from getting 
lonesome, and Linn and Amaryllis two nice, 
long days. We’ll take rides all round. And 
Chan ” 

Tip began to feel afraid he was being crowded 
out, and exclaimed hurriedly, “ Why can’t I come 
with Chan ? ” 

“ To be sure, that’s the way to fix it. How 
lucky there’s eight of you! You’ll like my big 
dog, Pilot, and my little dog, Bitsy, and Dan is 
fond of little boys.” 

“ Oh, I know Dan Wilson. And he says your 
house is just fine,” said Linn. “ And that you 
have a piano. Mrs. Burnham at the parsonage 
has one.” 

“We did have a dog — Rover,” interposed Tip 
in a very melancholy tone. 

“ And what became of him? ” 

“ It was — well, this way,” interposed Mrs. 
Firth. “ They talk of dogs being so faithful and 


1 1 4 THE CHILDREN IN THE 

trusty, but they are not always. We’d had Rover 
a good while, he was given to Tip, and all the 
children loved him. Now and then I’d find some 
chickens killed, and I blamed some of the other 
dogs about, or cats, or a skunk, as we have occa- 
sionally, but in the spring one morning I saw him 
thrashing something about, and when I went out 
I found two of my nice chickens dead, and Rover 
ran off to the woods and slunk back at night look- 
ing very much ashamed, but that didn’t bring the 
chickens back to life. Then the peddler came 
along and I gave Rover to him and told him he 
wasn’t a trusty dog and that I shouldn’t ask what 
became of him. You know we couldn’t keep him, 
and the Briggs’s complained of their chickens 
being killed, so it wasn’t neighborly when I found 
what it was. And somehow I’ve not trusted dogs 
since.” 

“ But I loved Rover very much,” said Tip on 
a half cry. 

“ Yes, dear, but we couldn’t keep him.” 

She snuggled up her little boy in a tender man- 
ner. 

“ Dogs have that trick sometimes, and they 
are not worth keeping. Dan would soon learn 
if ours did anything on the wrong tack. The 
collie is a fine, affectionate fellow, and Bitsy has 


LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 115 

lots of tricks. The children who were there 
trained him.” 

“ You’re very kind to offer so much to the 
children,” said Mrs. Firth in a soft, deprecating 
tone. “ I don’t quite know that I ought to take 
it ” 

“ Yes, yes. They’ve no uncles nor aunts it 
seems, and why shouldn’t they have some nice 
times — that is if they would like it, and not get 
homesick. Mrs. Alden wants to see them. We’re 
rather lonesome. It will be a great pleasure to 
us.” 

“ I wouldn’t get homesick,” declared Prim with 
eager decision. 

“ You’re the girl for me,” giving her hand a 
squeeze. “ But if any of you did, you know Dan 
could bring you home. Chan, will you be my first 
guest? On second thoughts I believe I will take 
four of you for a day, then if you like me well 
enough to come for a longer visit we will have 
that.” 

Marigold’s uplifted eyes almost said she liked 
him well enough, but irrepressible Prim asked, 
“ Which four?” 

“ You and Marigold and Chan and Tip. Has 
he any other name ? ” 

Mrs. Firth blushed. “ You see it was this way. 


ii6 THE CHILDREN IN THE 


Mr. Firth’s grandfather was killed in a great 
battle of Tippecanoe in the Indian war when Gen- 
eral Harrison gained such a victory. Then his 
father voted for the General when he was elected 
President. And husband used to sing an old bit 
of song — 

“ * Tippecanoe and Tyler, too, 

Are bound to rule the country through,’ ” 

and he was named Harrison, but his father began 
by calling him Tip, and sometimes giving him the 
whole name, and I’ve never had the heart to 
change it.” 

“ So you’ve had a hero in the family,” he said 
with admiration. 

“ Oh, husband was in the Civil War. He was 
considerably older than I, but we were very happy. 
You see, he had picked up a good deal of knowl- 
edge, and he could interest you so. But his heart 
was all set on flowers and trees, and we used to 
plan that sometime we’d go away from Denby, only 
here was the house, and we couldn’t seem to get 
ahead. He did a good deal of work over in 
Grafton. You know farmer-folk are not much 
for anything besides hay, corn, and potatoes,” 
with a vague little smile. “ We had some fine 
fruit trees — maybe you would like to see them?” 


LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 117 

She rose and he followed, Laurel holding one 
hand and Prim the other. A path led straight 
down. On one side were the chicken houses and 
runs that had been patched and patched upon 
again with much ingenuity. On the other side the 
vegetable garden. All the lower part was in an 
orchard. There were some fine quince trees loaded 
with fruit, thrifty apples and pears, but the peaches 
were showing signs of having outlived their most 
productive days. 

“ You see, I don’t just know how to take care 
of them, but they’ve brought us in quite a bit of 
money in the fall. Only, some of them are going 
now,” and she sighed. 

That was true enough, and the old house was 
going, too. What would she do by and by? 

“ Mrs. Firth, I want to talk to you about the 
little lad.” The children had espied some fallen 
pears and peaches, and had run to gather them, 
so they had no one but the twins. There had 
been various plans in his mind, but he was a 
straightforward sort of man, and now he was 
going to fasten on this one. “ Yes, the little lad 
and his lameness. He’s a plucky little chap, and 
ought to be helped, as I am quite sure he can be. 
There’s a kind of children’s home in New York 
where they take in poor little ones and mend them 


1 1 8 THE CHILDREN IN THE 


up, only sometimes they get past mending.” He 
would not say “ hospital ” lest it might jar on her 
fears as well as her feelings. “ I went in the 
last day I was in the city, and saw one of the 
doctors, a nice, kindly, youngish man, and told 
him what I knew about the case, or guessed at, 
and he’s anxious to see Chan. You can do so 
much for children while their bones and ligatures 
are kind of soft, though in other places they al- 
most work miracles for grown-ups, and I’d like 
to take him down and just see what can be 
done.” 

“ But, you see ” The tears came into her 

eyes and made them lustrous. “ Oh, I think rich 
people can’t understand, when they can do things 
so easy, how hard it is for poor people to get a 
little money together. I hoped to go over to 
Ridgewood and see that doctor this fall ” 

“ See here, madam, I’m not rich, but the good 
Lord seems to have prospered me, and given me 
a friend when I was in sore need. I’ve been worse 
off than yours, though I was a strong, hearty 
little lad. I’ve known what it was to be hungry. 
I’ve crept into a drygoods box and slept, so I know 
all about the pinches, and it would be a poor story 
if I couldn’t do something in return. That’s the 
small change of kindness that ought to go round 


LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 119 

the world. And I was thinking — let the children 
come over and have a good time — say on Wednes- 
day — and Chan stay all night. The next day 
I have to go to the city, and I could take him 
and find what’s wrong and how it can be helped, 
and then you would know. As for the money to 
do it — why, some day they may start a pretty 
town over here and take in that beautiful tract 
up by the pond as they did Grafton, and your place 
might bring in quite a little fortune. Or when 
Chan’s grown up straight and strong and making 
money he could pay it back if it would make you 
feel better about it. Why, you needn’t worry a 
mite. I’ve no one to spend money on unless I 
pick up waifs and strays, and I’ll take it as a favor 
if you’ll let me help a little.” 

She was crying then, and held her handkerchief 
up to her face. More than once she had fancied 
she would borrow the money, but somehow she 
never had the courage. 

“ If you would — if we ever could — pay you 
back again ” in tremulous tones. 

“ Why, in a little while Linn will be grown 
up and I could put him in the way of business. 
You’ll have a smart family of them; don’t you 
ever feel afraid. Only Chan wants an equal 
chance with the rest and not be handicapped in 


120 THE CHILDREN IN THE 


life’s race. So now wouldn’t it be good to know 
just what could be done?” 

“ You are so kind ” 

“ We’ll settle it that way.” 

“ If Chan will stay all night. He’s grown sort 
of strange and afraid of late.” 

“ Oh, Mr. Mann, did you ever see two more 
splendid peaches than these? I picked them for 
you,” and Prim had her dress skirt under her arm 
and a peach in each hand. They were beauties, 
too. 

“ Oh, Prim, look at your skirt, your clean, 
white frock, too!” 

For Primrose had made a sort of bag of the 
front by gathering it up in a bunch, and now 
it was full of fruit. Rilla had gone back for a 
basket. Marigold held up a big, luscious pear. 

“ I never saw anything finer,” said Mr. Mann. 
“ Now you shall each give me one.” 

“ I’ve given you two and I’m not going to take 
one back,” exclaimed Prim decisively. 

“ No, indeed.” 

“ Let us go back to the house,” said the 
mother. 

She was in a curious tumult of feeling. True — 
sometime they might pay back the money indebted- 
ness, though she had no idea of the real cost; 


LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 121 


then Chan’s little limp smote her heart. Yes — 
she must consent and trust Providence. 

Amaryllis had been hunting about and found a 
fine bunch of grapes that had lived in the sunshine 
and colored deliciously. 

“ Oh, Rill, where did you find them ? I’ll brag 
of that over at the Briggs’s. Theirs are just turn- 
ing,” said Linn. 

“ I’ve been watching them for a week. I was 
awful ’fraid the birds would pick them. The vine 
runs over that little cedar tree.” 

She held the bunch up to Mr. Mann. 

“ Ours are just turning, too. Thank you, my 
dear. I don’t forget you were my first friend, 
and some day we’ll have another nice drive to- 
gether.” 

She flushed deeply. She was so sorry she and 
Marigold had said “ mean ” things about him when 
they thought he had been “ just funning.” 

It was settled presently. Four of the children 
would come over and spend the day, and Chan 
would stay all night and go to the city the next 
morning. They all hovered about him like bees, 
though their mother in her pretty, helpless way 
kept checking them. And the man who had longed 
for children of his very own began to feel almost 
as though the joy was his. 


CHAPTER VIII 


THE TIME OF THEIR LIVES 

“ Remember, Dan, the whole four, two boys 
and two girls. Don’t you dare to come back with 
one missing,” was Mr. Mann’s decree. 

“ Though I don’t just know how you will stand 
it,” he said to Mrs. Alden. “ They’re not a bad 
lot, and that Tip is a funny little fellow who 
cries where the others laugh. Prim is — well, she 
should have been a boy, but they’re all so kind 
of tender and loving, and when they scold it’s 
very amusing. . I don’t believe their mother knows 
how. Amaryllis is the second mother, and she’s 
such a smart little thing.” 

“ Oh, we’ll get along. I’ll have a good hearty 
dinner and peach dumpling with sauce. I hope 
they won’t make too much noise for the neigh- 
bors. Do you know, I feel sorry for that little 
girl of the Chedisters’. She sits there day after 
day or rides her doll up and down the lawn path 
and is always beruffled and tied up with ribbons, 
and wears a necklace, and looks so wistful like.” 


22 


THE LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 123 

“ Marigold has a curly red mop — it’s pretty, 
too. Prim has big, dark eyes, and a tail of light, 
yellowish hair. I don’t know that they are pretty 
— yes,” considering, “ but not handsome. Tip is 
like a little weasel. Chan is — well, the sort of 
child that goes to your heart. Maybe it’s his lame- 
ness.” 

“ Oh, Mr. Mann, you’re so good to take it in 
hand.” 

“ We can stand them for a day,” he said 
jocosely. 

Dan had them all. Catch one of them staying 
behind ! Even the twins had cried to come. 
Amaryllis had scoured them until they were pain- 
fully clean. Marigold’s hair fairly shone — it was 
a beautiful dark red. Prim’s braid was smooth 
and tight and tied with a well-washed blue ribbon. 
They had on their white dresses which were very 
plain, and had brought along checked aprons to 
play in. Tip had a blue seersucker blouse and 
trousers, and Chan a pretty cambric blouse made 
out of an outgrown frock of Katy Burnham’s. 
They certainly were a well-looking group as they 
marched up the porch steps on their very best 
behavior and made the formal greeting Amaryllis 
had impressed upon them. 

But the company manners did not last long. 


124 THE CHILDREN IN THE 

There were two fine hammocks on the wide porch. 
And then Bitsy came running up ready for a 
frolic. He could do so many things, walk around 
on his hind legs, beg, be a dead dog, cry as if 
he were a baby, jump over a chair, and run 
around after his feathery tail like a cat. 

Then Pilot came in for his share. The dogs 
were so glad to have some children again. And 
Prim forgot, and raced round the lawn with him 
to the delight of Gladys Chedister. 

And then Mr. Peacock came around with his 
beautiful tail feathers spread out, but after a 
glance at the children, or it might have been their 
shrieks of delight, he dropped suddenly and trotted 
off in a clumsy fashion. 

“ Oh, I never saw a peacock before !” cried 
Prim. “ Can’t you make him unfold again? Can’t 
we go down that way ? ” 

“ Yes, but I wouldn’t just now. He’s a touchy 
sort of fellow, not at all amiable, like Bitsy, and 
when you don’t pay much attention to him he’s 
apt to come round.” 

“ And he’s very handsome. What was that 
little thing with him?” 

“ That little gray-green brown thing? That’s 
his wife — a peahen.” 

“ Well, if that ain’t funny. What did he choose 


LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 125 

such a little wife for?” asked Prim. “I’d had 
a beautiful big one like myself. And have they 
any children ? ” 

“ No,” rather slowly. 

“ What are they good for? ” 

“ Just to look handsome, I think.” 

“ Well, I’d rather have a dog,” said Tip. 

“ Do they cost a good deal ? ” 

“ Yes, I think so.” 

“ Oh, Prim,” exclaimed Marigold, “ there are 
some feathers with that beautiful eye in them at 
Mrs. Wiley’s over her looking-glass. I do won- 
der if sometime she had a peacock ! ” 

“ A peacock has ugly legs,” said Chan. “ When 
he spreads his tail and goes strutting around he 
catches sight of them and down goes his tail at 
once.” 

“ Then I wouldn’t look at my legs,” subjoined 
Tip. “ Would you like to be a peacock, Prim? ” 

“ No, I wouldn’t. I’d rather be a girl than 
anything else.” 

“ Not even a boy?” asked their host mischiev- 
ously. 

“ Mother says she should have been a boy,” 
commented Chan. 

“ I don’t see why ! ” began Primrose rather 
affronted. “ I can do most things that boys can, 


126 THE CHILDREN IN THE 


run races and climb trees and slide down hill, and 
snowball, and then I can do the things that girls 
do, and what I don’t know I can learn. And I 
can spell down some of the big children. That’s 
the greatest fun in school, only teacher won’t let 
us do it but just on Fridays. I hate writing the 
words on the slates, and the pencils sometimes 
squeak so, and the point always breaks off your 
lead pencil. I don’t call that downright spelling 
at all.” 

“ But you wouldn’t want to hoe corn or dig 
potatoes as the women in Germany do,” inter- 
posed Chan. 

“ Or be yoked to a milk cart as the wives some- 
times are,” said Marigold. 

“ I sha’n’t go and live in Germany. And I 
mean to be rich when I’m a grown-up woman. 
I’ll marry a Prince like Cinderella did. Now I’m 
going to have all the fun I can,” emphasizing it 
with a decisive nod. 

“ A good resolution, Miss Primrose,” said her 
host, very much amused. 

“ You see, Primrose can put in about twice as 
much fun as any one else,” explained Chan. “ But 
you’d have to get your feet bound if you were 
going to try for the glass slipper — it would be 
so small.” 


LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 127 

“ The Prince won’t come along just yet,” she 
returned dryly. 

“ You’ll have to be handsome,” suggested 
Tip. 

You never can tell what any one will grow 
up to,’ Granny Keen’s always saying. ‘ All the 
pretty girls turn out homely, so why shouldn’t the 
homely girls grow pretty?’ Well, I don’t much 
care. It’s fun to wait just to see how things do 
happen. But don’t you wish we had a hammock, 
Chan? They’re just splendid! ” 

She and Marigold were in one, the boys in the 
other. Chan luxuriated in the slow, delightful 
movement. 

“ Why, we’ve almost made them in the woods 
with grapevines, only not as nice as these.” 

Pilot was tugging at Prim’s skirt and looking 
at her with great, beseeching eyes. 

“ He wants another race,” said his master. 

Prim was out of the hammock in a trice and 
nearly spilled Marigold. 

“You splendid old Pilot! What a shame you 
can’t talk words! Yes, we’ll have a race,” and 
she was off. Mr. Mann watched her. She ran 
like a flash and went round the curves with really 
beautiful precision. Pilot lost time looking back, 
afraid she wasn’t quite in earnest, so they both 


128 THE CHILDREN IN THE 


came in together, or else he was too mannerly to 
distance a girl. 

“ Once again.” 

This time Pilot did beat. But Primrose only 
gave him a most delightful hug and said naively, 
“ If I lived here, Pilot, we’d run races every day.” 
Then she sat down on the step and fanned herself 
with her dress skirt. 

Mrs. Alden came through the hall. “ Are you 
not ’most starved, children ? ” she asked. “ Dinner 
is ready.” 

There was quite a large, square hall where they 
had deposited their hats and a bundle. 

“ Oh, we must put on our aprons,” said Mari- 
gold. “ Prim, your frock is dirty already.” 

“ Yes, Granny Keen says if dirt sticks to you 
money will stick to you, too. Think how rich 
I’ll be some day.” 

There was a little sort of anteroom that shut 
off the dining-room when one desired. That was 
a spacious and really beautiful apartment with a 
handsome buffet, a fine mantel with a great deer’s 
head and antlers over the top. The eyes looked 
fairly human. A china closet with very little 
china in it. Mrs. Ross advised him not to be 
in a hurry to fill it up, for she felt almost certain 
there would be a wife here some day who might 


LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 129 

like to arrange things. The Gedneys had been 
glad to dispose of many of the large articles. 

“ Oh, I do think my hands ought to be washed ! ” 
cried Prim in dismay. “ I’m not quite ready to 
begin collecting gold.” 

“ Come in here,” said Mrs. Alden. 

To think of washing one’s hands in a white 
marble basin ! Prim had a feeling she had dropped 
into fairyland. And to wipe them on such a soft, 
lovely towel with a blue border across the ends. 
A pretty little room, too, with a looking-glass, and 
a rug on the floor. Oh, if they only had some- 
thing nice. 

As for the dinner, that was a feast. Prim put 
on her very best airs and graces, and used her 
silver fork as if she had been brought up with 
such appointments. Marigold watched her out of 
the corner of her eye, and the rest of the time 
she devoted to Tip, who had half a mind to cry 
when he made a blunder. But they certainly did 
very well. 

Then they went out in the yard and garden 
and inspected the dove-cote and the flock of guinea- 
hens, and Mr. Peacock once more spread out his 
gorgeous plumage. Then there was a pen of 
splendid white turkeys. Back of all was a strip 
of woods. Dan was much interested explaining 


i 3 o THE CHILDREN IN THE 

everything. Prim declared this would make a 
splendid place to have a picnic. 

When they returned to the house Mrs. Alden 
had opened the parlors, although the farther back 
one had one side shelved for a library, but it 
wasn’t quarter filled with books, although Mr. 
Mann brought home a parcel now and then, and 
wished there was some one to direct him and read 
to him and discuss things. Marigold said to her 
mother afterward that the rooms looked so skimpy 
and so sort of plain that she didn’t feel at all 
out of place, though they were so large. 

“ Can’t any one play on the piano ? ” she in- 
quired. 

“ Mrs. Alden does a little — old-fashioned hymn 
tunes. We ought to have some one who knew 
songs. Don’t you children sing?” 

“ Chan and Marigold sing just beautiful,” de- 
clared Prim eagerly. 

“ And you ? ” inquired Mr. Mann. 

“ Oh, I sing like a tea-kettle, mother says, just 
up and down,” making a little motion with her 
hand like beating time. “ Maybe I’ll learn by and 
by,” hopefully. 

Mrs. Alden came in, fresh and nice in a light 
cambric gown. They talked of the Sunday-school 
hymns. She could play some of them. 


LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 13 1 

“ Then sing them,” suggested Mr. Mann. 

They were rather bashful at first, but soon Chan 
was really inspired by the music. What a beauti- 
ful voice the boy had! And Marigold as well. 
He had heard of little boys in the city who were 
paid for singing, and men who made a great deal 
of money. Why, the lad might be able to do some- 
thing with his voice presently. And though he 
was pale and thin, what beautiful brown eyes he 
had, like his mother’s. 

“ There’s something mother sings,” Chan said 
presently, “ about Bonnie Doon. I know all the 
words of that.” 

“ Oh, do you ? ” Mrs. Alden smiled. “ It’s a 
great favorite of mine. And ‘ Auld Lang Syne.’ ” 

“ Yes, we know that,” said Marigold. 

“ Then let’s have a little chorus.” 

They sang it very well indeed for new ac- 
quaintances. But Mr. Mann thought the boy’s 
voice in “ Bonnie Doon ” was sweet to heart-break- 
ing. He winked some moisture back in his eyes, 
and said, “ If you don’t know anything else, sing 
them all over again.” 

He was settling his mind to the plan that he 
would have Chan and Marigold, and educate them 
and take pleasure in their growing up here. Even 
if Chan didn’t get quite well he would be a son 


132 THE CHILDREN IN THE 

worth having, and Marigold had some very pretty 
ways. They would both come to love him — that 
was what he wanted. It was better than begin- 
ning with babies who couldn’t learn much for sev- 
eral years. They were just right. 

“ Oh, I must go and get supper,” Mrs. Alden 
said as she rose. 

“ Won’t you let me help you a little ? ” asked 
Marigold with a winsome smile. 

Tip and Prim went out to have a play with 
the dogs. Chan sat down at the piano and touched 
the keys lightly with his small fingers. 

“ Oh, how lovely it must be to make music for 
yourself,” and he gave a rapturous sigh. “ It just 
fills you up to the brim with joy. There isn’t 
anything like it, only sometimes when the pain 
has been bad mother holds me and sings in her 
soft way. Did your mother ever do it ? ” 

“ I never had a mother to remember.” 

“ Oh, Mr. Mann, I’m awful sorry,” Chan put 
out his left hand, the right was touching the notes 
softly like the trickling of a rivulet, “ ’cause a 
mother’s the sweetest and dearest thing in the 
whole world. Well,” reflectively, “ my mother is. 
I don’t know as I’d want some other boy’s mother.” 

“ The beautifullest mother,” Tip had said. 

“ Children, come to supper,” said Mrs. Alden. 


LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 133 

Tip and Primrose had to be washed again, and 
Prim’s dress was much soiled as she had shed 
her apron. 

“ Oh, isn’t it all beautiful ! ” sighed Tip. “ I’d 
like to live here. And we have only an old tin 
wash basin, and nothing is nice and new ” 

“ Oh, hush ! ” in a whisper. “ We have mother, 
you know, and when we get big we’ll earn lots 
of money and buy them all. We mustn’t covet 
other people’s things.” 

Supper was delightful. Then Dan came round 
with the surrey, and there were no end of regret- 
ful exclamations about the day’s being so short. 

“ And, Mrs. Alden, we’ve had just the loveliest 
time, and we’re very much obliged to you.” Mrs. 
Firth had told Marigold several times to be sure 
to say this. “ I hope we haven’t made you a great 
deal of trouble, getting dinner for so many. It 
was just a splendid dinner, and the pudding was 
’licious. And the real cake for supper. Mother 
can’t afford icing, she only makes cookies and 
gingerbread, and they don’t need it. There are 
so many of us to feed.” 

“ I’m glad you liked everything,” and Mrs. 
Alden smiled down into the flushing face. Mari- 
gold felt that she had acquitted herself finely. 
“ And you must come again.” 


i 3 4 THE CHILDREN IN THE 

So the two girls were helped in. 

“ I’m not going home,” announced Tip. “ I’m 
going to stay all night with Chan.” 

“ Tip ! ” exclaimed the elders in a breath of wild 
surprise. 

“ Yes. Mayn’t I? ” catching Mr. Mann’s hand 
in an appealing grasp. 

“Oh, Tip! What would mother say?” 

“ Dan can tell her. Why, she’ll be glad to have 
me stay with Chan in a strange place.” 

“ Why, I’m not afraid,” remonstrated Chan. 

Tip stood up very straight, stretching every point 
to add dignity to his protestation. 

“I’m going to stay. You’ll let me?” to Mr. 
Mann, who was much amused at the little fellow’s 
persistency. 

“ Tip, come this minute,” commanded Primrose. 

Instead the child took a step back, still hanging 
to his host. 

“ Oh, let him stay,” said Mr. Mann. “ Dan 
will take him home in the morning.” 

“ There ! ” triumphantly. 

“ Tip, you’ll be homesick and cry before bed- 
time,” said Chandler. 

“ No, I won’t, either.” 

“ Make believe to go,” said Marigold to Dan, 
who started Bonnie. 


LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 135 

Tip turned with superb dignity, and seated him- 
self on the step. Pilot came and gave him an 
approval. 

“ Good-by, good-by, we’re on our way, 

We’ll be glad to come another day,” 

sang out Primrose. 

Mr. Mann laughed. Chan looked rather cross, 
if so sweet a face could put on such an expression. 
The host sat down between the boys. Tip caught 
his hand again, and smiled. He placed his other 
arm around Chandler and drew him nearer. 

“ I don’t know what mother’ll say ” 

“ Oh, I’ll make it all right with your mother,” 
said Mr. Mann. 

“ You think because you’re bigger’n me you’re 
the biggest toad in the puddle, but you ain’t. 
Linn’s bigger’n you. And I’m goin’ to school this 
winter,” Tip said resentfully. 

“ You won’t like it a bit. You’ll have to study 
awful lessons, and you’ll get demerits.” 

“ Well, they don’t lick the boys any more. Linn 
said so.” 

“ Oh,” and Chan gave a sudden cry of delight. 
“ Hear that beautiful bird! Why, it’s ’most like 
the fine notes on the piano,” and he forgot to 
quarrel in his rapture. 

“ That’s a thrush — wood-robin, some people call 


1 36 THE CHILDREN IN THE 

it. They have some nests over there in the 
woods.” 

“ I wish I knew all the names of birds. There’s 
the blue jay and the martin and the swallow, you 
can always tell him by the beautiful way he flies, 
and the robins are as tame as anything. They 
come and eat up the chickens’ feed. And there’s 
a fire-bird that’s just gorgeous.” 

“ I must get you a nice book of birds with 
colored plates.” 

“ Mr. Mann,” with a little tremor in his voice, 
“ mother’s afraid you’ll do too much for us. 
’Tisn’t as if you were our uncle, or some relation, — 
we haven’t any uncles.” 

“ And I have no nephews or any relations that 
I know of. I’d like to have some. About two 
little boys and two girls. That would be just 
nice. So I think I’ll have to be your uncle.” 

Pilot had been coaxing Tip for a race by all 
the arts he knew, and when the boy jumped up he 
was wild in a minute. Down the path he 
went, even out in the street, as there were no 
fences. 

Mr. and Mrs. Chedister sat on their porch. 

“ Didn’t we understand,” she began rather 
sharply, “ that that next-door person was to have 
no children ” 


LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 137 

“ That he had none,” corrected her husband. 
“ But he might marry again.” 

“ And there has been the wildest crew there 
to-day ! They have run and raced and shouted and 
made bedlam so you could hear it plainly over 
here. They were poorly dressed, too, part of the 
time had on aprons. Oh, I do hope they don’t 
belong to him ! It’s a fad now to bring children 
out of the slums of the city, and I think it very 
reprehensible. They may scatter disease and bad 
language, and Heaven only knows what all. This 
has been such a select neighborhood. And the 
Gedney children were packed off to boarding-school 
and to the seaside in vacation, so they really were 
not a great annoyance.” 

“ I’ll find out by Dan,” replied Mr. Chedister. 

Gladys lived by rule. She had gone to bed 
now, but she lay there wide awake thinking of 
the merry time the children had, and wishing there 
were some real children to play with her. She 
did get so tired sitting still or just walking up and 
down or playing with Helen Augusta, who was 
quite a cultivated doll who could say “ mama ” 
and walk when you wound her up, after the 
fashion of moving wax figures. But after one 
had had Helen Augusta for a year, and played 
tea with her and dressed and undressed her, she 


138 THE CHILDREN IN THE 

began to pall. Sometimes when she was down in 
the field and Joanna was reading, she actually 
took a little run. But to run with a real live 
girl, and scream if you wanted to! 

“ Yes, you’ll have to call me uncle,” Mr. Mann 
was saying after some consideration. “ I don’t 
think I have a very pretty name to call,” and he 
gave his little chuckle. 

“ What ! All of us ? The whole eight ? ” 

Then he laughed merrily. “ That would be 
funny. You and Tip might begin.” 

“ Well — if mother was willing. Yes, I’d like 
it.” How good and strong the arm about him 
felt. “ But if I couldn’t get well, would you like 
a lame little boy ? ” 

“ I ought to care more for him. But you’re 
going to get well. We’ll see to-morrow.” 

“ Will it hurt much?” 

“ It won’t hurt at all. They have a curious 
light they call an x-ray and that looks at you, 
looks through you and sees just what is the mat- 
ter. They don’t have to cut into anybody, but 
if they did the doctor would give him ether, and 
that’s just like going to sleep, and when he wakes 
he is all mended up right and all he has to do is to 
get well.” 

“ That seems very easy,” returned Chan. “ But 


LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 139 

Granny Keen said once I might have to lose 
my leg. Oh, I couldn’t do that ! ” with a pathetic 
little cry. “ There’s old Mr. Downs by the store 
who has a sort of wooden leg and goes stumping 
round, and Alf Gardiner goes on crutches cause 
his leg is all twisted up with rheumatism. And 
Polly Stead has one such short leg because her 
hip was hurt.” 

“ Never you mind what the old grannies say, 
my little lad. We’ll have this all right as you 
will see, and you must not be afraid of anything 
bad happening. God takes care of little boys.” 

Did He always? Mr. Mann thought of the 
maimed little creatures he had seen in the city. 

Tip came back warm and tired, and crawled 
up close to the sheltering arm, but presently laid 
his little face down on the soft knee, and shut 
his eyes. 

“ Tell me about your other brother — Linn,” 
Mr. Mann said. “ I don’t seem to know much 
about him.” 

“ Oh, Linn’s splendid and strong, and can run 
like a wild horse. He’s going to school again 
this winter ’cause mother has so much work now 
she can spare him, and then farmers don’t have 
so much for boys in the winter, though Mrs. Briggs 
would keep him all the time, he’s so handy to have 


i 4 o THE LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 

about, but he’s so fond of books and study, and 
is going to do something to make a good deal 
of money. Then we’re all going away. Mother 
thinks the old house will fall down by that time,” 
laughing a little. “ Some of the chimney blew 
off last spring.” 

“ And Amaryllis ” 

“ She can’t go to school, you see. She’s got 
to stay home and be mother while real mother is 
out working. And Rilla knows lots of things, and 
she’s so good and sweet when any of us has earache 
or toothache or a bad pain. Oh, we just couldn’t 
get along without her.” 

He was so interested in hearing about their 
straits and economies. He had been there himself. 


CHAPTER IX 


IN A HOSPITAL WARD 

“ Mr. Mann, don’t you think it is time those 
children went to bed ? ” said the low, motherly 
voice of Mrs. Alden. 

“ O my! Why, I forgot about bedtime! It 
is so delightful out here, and my little lad has 
been so entertaining. He’s going to be my boy 
for good and all, ain’t you, Chan? And Tip’s 
sound asleep.” 

“ Now you’ll have a time,” exclaimed Chan 
fearfully, “if he begins to cry for mother! He 
often lies around and goes to sleep, and she picks 
him up and undresses him without a word.” 

“ Maybe I could. I’ve done it to little boys 
before now. If you could carry him upstairs ” 

Mr. Mann took him in his arms very gently. 
Pilot gave a little whine, but he was hushed at 
once. Tip was laid on the bed, and Mrs. Alden 
took his clothes off one side, then the other, and 
the shoes and stockings. He gave a little grunt 
or two, and she laid him on one side of the bed, 
looking up smilingly. 


1 42 THE CHILDREN IN THE 

“ You’re just like a mother,” said Chan. 

“ I had two little boys once.” 

“ Where are they now ? ” 

“ Oh, they’re grown-up men. Can I do any- 
thing for you ? ” 

“ Thank you,” returned Chan. “ I’m used to 
waiting upon myself.” 

“ Here is a glass of water on the window- 
sill.” 

He gave a grateful nod. 

Oh, what a lovely big room it was, with a 
pretty paper, roses and daisies and long grass 
stems, and white window draperies, and a white 
spread on the bed, and a soft carpet that looked 
like brown moss with green leaves scattered about ; 
a bureau with a great glass, a stand with a bowl 
and ewer, and towels with red borders across the 
ends. And the bed was what Prim would have 
called “ supersplacious.” 

Mr. Mann went to his room and sat down by 
the window. The moon was crawling up in the 
heavens, but the stars seemed to defy her. Oh, 
how fragrant the air was with the falling dew! 
And what a day it had been! How Chan had 
crept into his heart! He could still feel the clasp 
of the little fingers, hear the sweet voice that was 
full of music in singing. Yes, he would take 


LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 143 

the child, and he should be like his very own. 
He never would know the difference, for Chan 
was so little when his father died, how could he 
remember? And he could do so much more for 
him than his own father. 

And Tip? Well, the other must be a girl. 
Should it be Prim or Marigold? Prim was so 
bright and droll. Marigold would be very pretty 
with her curling hair, her eyes full of laughing 
lights, then gravely sweet like a shaded lake, and 
her mouth was so merry and daring and sweet and 
perplexing. He couldn’t very well have Amaryl- 
lis, her mother would need her, and the twins 
were too small. Yes, it must be Marigold. 

He actually fell asleep there in the reclining 
chair, not for the first time either. He did so 
enjoy this liberty with no one to keep nagging at 
him. 

Sometimes there was a cry or a shriek. The 
old owl in the sycamore was uttering his wail, 
and he turned over, surprised to find himself not 
in bed. Oh, the children! What had happened? 

This had happened. 

Unluckily Tip had wakened. In the narrow 
bed at home he could always feel Linn. He 
stretched out his hand — there was nothing. He 
sat up — the moon was shining in the window. 


i 4 4 THE CHILDREN IN THE 

There was something on the floor, he saw it 
move. Then he uttered a shriek. 

“ Tip! Tip! ” Chan had hold of him. “ Hush 

up, I’m here. You’re ” he placed his hand 

over Tip’s mouth, but it was jerked away. 

“ I want my muver ! I want my muver ! 
There’s a big black bear on the floor, and oh, 
just hear it! ” 

“ You silly ’ramus! That’s an owl, and there’s 
no bear. Hush up or I’ll stick you under the 
bed. I said you oughtn’t stay. And you are 
making such a racket you’ll wake everybody in 
the house, and it’s Mr. Mann’s.” 

“ I want muver ! ” sobbingly. 

“ You can’t have her unless you get up and 
run home through the dark. I won’t go with you. 
Some one is coming.” 

It was Mrs. Alden with a light. “ What is the 
matter ? ” she asked in a reassuring tone. 

Tip hid under the coverlet. “ It’s Tip,” said 
Chan, “ he woke up and was frightened by the 
owl ” 

He emerged then. “ ’Tain’t like our owl, and 
there’s a bear on the floor ” 

Mrs. Alden had thrown a small footspread over 
a chair, and it had slipped down. She picked 
it up with a light laugh. 


LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 145 

“You ninny, there’s your bear! And there 
are different kinds of owls. Ours is a little hoot- 
owl.” 

“ And this is a big screech-owl. He’s been 
driven away several times, but he comes back, 
but he can’t hurt any one.” 

Mr. Mann came and sat down on the side of 
the bed. Tip leaned on his breast and sobbed, 
“If you’d woked up in the night and there wasn’t 
any muver to say, ‘ What is it, Tip, dear?’ and 
get you a drink and come and kiss you — and a 
horrid owl screeched, and that on the floor looked 
like a bear, and — and ” 

“ Tip, when I was a little boy and woke in 
the night, and sometimes had a cruel pain or a 
toothache I didn’t have any mother ever to com- 
fort me, nor any Mrs. Alden to bring a light and 
get me a drink, nor any brother to stay with me. 
And now you are not going to be afraid any 
more, and to-morrow morning you are going home 
to the dearest mother any little boy ever had.” 

Tip raised his head and took a drink. 

“ It’s too bad,” began Chan on a half cry of 
mortification. “ I didn’t want Tip to stay. He 
often wakes up in the night and makes a rumpus. 
I’m awful sorry.” 

“ Chan, my little lad, don’t worry a bit. And 


146 THE CHILDREN IN THE 

Tip’s going to be a brave boy now and go back 
to sleep again.” 

“ Yes,” said Tip. “ You see, if I had known 
it wasn’t a bear, and if the owl hadn’t screamed, 
and it was all so strange 

“ Yes,” and Mr. Mann nodded. “ Perhaps you 
had better leave a light here, Mrs. Alden.” 

“ I’ll crawl up by Chan. Linn always lets me 
when I’m frightened in the night. And I won’t 
be ’fraid any more.” 

“ That’s a nice boy. Chan, are you all right ? ” 

“ Yes, thank you.” 

“ Good-night then,” in a kindly tone. 

Tip went to sleep pretty soon and then Chan un- 
clasped the little arms and moved softly over to his 
own side. It was annoying, and yet it was funny. 
Of course he ought not have stayed. Things often 
happened to him in the night. And now the owl 
went to sleep and all was quiet. 

Mr. Mann laughed a little, too. He saw the 
children on the doorstep crying because their 
mother had gone away and left them all alone, 
and as he was dropping off to sleep the refrain 
floated through his mind — “ The beautifullest 
mother ” 

Tip was all right the next morning and quite 
merry, though Chan teased him a little about the 


LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 147 

bear. Dan had the surrey up to take his master 
down to the station. Then he would come back 
and drive Tip home. The boy agreed to this 
willingly. 

“ It’s a nice bed,” he said to Mrs. Alden, “ and 
the room’s a hundred times nicer than ours, and 
you have such a beautiful house, and the dogs and 
all, but my mother is over there, and I never was 
away before. But you were next best. If I 
hadn’t any mother like Mr. Mann when he was a 
little boy, I should want you. You know just 
how to be good to little boys.” 

Mrs. Alden bent down and kissed him. 

Chan looked very nice in the clean blouse with 
its big collar that he had brought along. And 
what a wonderful thing it was to be in a steam- 
car and fly along past the little towns to stop 
here and there and at last reach the great station 
where he was quite sure there was a million of 
people. Then the factory, with the noise of the 
machinery, the men at work, the office, and Mr. 
Ross going out to a restaurant to dinner, and 
then to see the doctor at two o’clock. It almost 
seemed to Chan as if he had lived a year. 

The hospital, for it really was that, was like 
a palace with all its beautiful appointments. The 
doctor’s office was not in any wise formidable, 


148 THE CHILDREN IN THE 

and Dr. Richards had a kindly face and a voice 
that could have persuaded one into anything. 
Chan was a little shy at first, but the doctor coaxed 
out the story of how he had been hurt, and 
what had been done for him, and pressed around 
the hip to find the place of injury, and made him 
walk up and down, nodding now and then. 

“ He’s beginning to twist his knee a little. It’s 
a great pity the thing couldn’t have been done at 
once, but of course country practitioners are sel- 
dom expert surgeons, especially the older ones. 
Now, my little lad, come here and hold up your 
hand.” 

Chan shrunk a little from the curious machine. 

“ Now look at the dark little bones in your 
hand.” 

It was so wonderful that Chan really forgot 
to breathe. There in every finger was a little 
streak joined together by a sort of knob that was 
larger, and they went down the back of the hand 
and there were ever so many more little knobs 
at the wrist and one big one at the side. Was 
it really his hand, and all safe and sound! 

“ That’s the way I’m going to look at your 
hip, so now you won’t mind a bit.” 

No, Chan didn’t mind, not even when the doctor 
gave him a pinch that hurt, for he kept looking 


LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 149 

at his hand and thinking how curious it was that 
you could see through anybody like that. 

“ Well, it’s not so bad, and will be what we 
call a bloodless operation. If it could have been 
done before it would have been only a simple re- 
location. There must be ether and a plaster jacket, 
but I think six weeks will make you over as |jpod 
as new. There won’t be any hurt, only the bother 
of getting well, and there’ll be children and 
nurses to amuse you.” 

“ And I’ll walk just as well as before? ” Chan’s 
voice trembled with excitement. 

“ Oh, you’ll run and play ball and skate and 
grow into a fine lad, and have grand good times.” 

The rest of the talk was between the doctor 
and Mr. Mann. Then Dr. Richards summoned 
a nurse, a pretty young woman with a little 
white cape over her shoulders and a big white 
apron, and asked her to take these guests to the 
sun-room. 

They went up in an elevator. There was a 
room with a glass roof and windows here and 
there, with soft, blue curtains to temper the glare. 
There were children playing about, riding in mini- 
ature autos, two or three who walked with 
crutches, but they all looked happy and merry 
and were chatting and laughing or playing games, 


150 THE CHILDREN IN THE 

and they were all so lovely and clean. The floor 
was covered with some soft, light stuff, and the 
girls had simple white dresses such as the twins 
wore for Sunday best. The nurses in odd little 
white caps and white aprons looked so cheerful 
and smiling, and in one nook, a small sort of ante- 
room, sat a lady reading to a group. 

“ Do you think of coming here, or are you 
only a visitor ? ” asked a nurse in a tone that 
somehow sounded like his mother’s. 

“ Oh, I’m coming here. I’ve got to be mended 
a little, and you are all so nice, and it’s so beauti- 
ful that I won’t get lonesome, for, you see, there’s 
eight of us at home and mother besides.” 

She patted him on the shoulder. What tender 
eyes he had, and how much love shone in his 
face ! 

“ Eight ? And any girls ? ” 

“ Oh, yes. There are only three boys and 
there’s twins.” 

“ And what is your name ? ” 

He told her. “ And Linn is named for a man 
who knew all about trees and plants, and Tip for 
General Harrison, and all the girls are flowers.” 

“ Flowers ? ” with a questioning intonation. 

“ It’s this way. There’s Amaryllis — she’s the 
oldest of us all,— then Marigold and Primrose and 


LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 15 1 

Rhoda — but mother wouldn’t have the rest of her 
name — and Laurel, they’re the twins.” 

“ Well, I declare ! ” she laughed softly. “ When 
you are here I hope some of them will come. I 
should like to see them all. Why, you’ve a gar- 
den ! ” 

Mr. Mann beckoned him, and he went across 
the room where a rosy boy stood. 

“ Oh,” he exclaimed, “ he ain’t bad lame. I 
just couldn’t walk without a crutch, and look at 
me now ! ” He took a few proud steps. “ I’m 
going home next week. I’m all father has, and 
we haven’t any mother. And then we are going 
way off to London. Do you know where that 
is?” 

“ Oh, yes, it’s in England. And that’s on the 
other Continent.” 

The little boy stared, then he added, “ I’d like 
to stay here, only they don’t keep well children, 
and father wants me. You must be sure to 
come.” 

Chan said a pretty, gracious good-by to them 
all, and down they went again in the queer ele- 
vator. 

“ I don’t feel a bit afraid,” and he squeezed Mr. 
Mann’s hand. “ But wasn’t it all lovely, the 
sunshine and the nurses and the children? But 


152 THE CHILDREN IN THE 

there was a little boy, not as big as me, who had 
only one leg. He’ll always have to walk with a 
crutch, won’t he? Oh, suppose I’d broken mine 
clear off ! ” 

“ He was probably run over. So many of them 
are. There are such crowds in the city.” 

“ Then it’s best not to live in the city. Oh, 
why can’t they send all the little children into 
the country until they get grown up ? ” 

“ That might be a good scheme,” smiling. 

They went back to the office, where Mr. Mann 
wrote some letters, picked up a few papers, and 
slipped an elastic around them. 

“ Now we’ll start for home. Have you had a 
nice day ? ” 

“ It’s been grand ! When will I have to come ? ” 

“ Next week.” 

“ It’s such a beautiful place,” with a sigh of 
satisfaction. “ And to think there’s a light that 
can see straight through you ! ” 

Mr. Mann knew Mrs. Firth would be doubly 
anxious to see her boy, so they drove over to the 
old red house at once. How queer and small and 
dingy it looked to Chan, but there was mother. 
And he felt sorry for the little boy going to Lon- 
don without any mother. After all he guessed 
mothers were best. 


LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 153 

Mr. Mann made the few necessary explana- 
tions. 

“ You’ve been so wonderfully good about it. I 
don’t know how you’ll ever get paid. I suppose 
I ought to advise a little with the minister and 
his wife. ’Twould seem queer-like to settle it 
all by myself. They’ve been good, too. Why, I 
can’t seem to make it real.” 

He thought a moment. “ No,” he returned, 
“ don’t say anything about it until after Sunday. 
You’ll have the neighbors in advising, telling you 
different things that will upset you; and you’ll 
feel all at sea, maybe. There’s nothing to be done, 
you don’t even have to get any clothes ready, only 
keep the little lad cheery. He’s had a nice time 
and will have ever so much to tell you. I’ll be 
over on Sunday again. After eight or ten days 
you can go down and see him.” 

She laughed with her eyes full of tears, and 
her face flushed. How pretty she looked ! “ The 
beauti fullest mother.” And she had almost a 
child’s innocence with all her good sense. 

Oh, what an evening it was! Chan laid his 
head on his mother’s lap, sitting beside her on a 
bench, and the younger children were around on 
the floor, they couldn’t get close enough. 

“ Why, it’s like some of the things in the old 


1 54 THE CHILDREN IN THE 

fairy book about palaces and such, and people 
waiting on you and everything,” declared Prim en- 
thusiastically. 

*“ I’d almost have my own leg broken,” said 
Linn, “ to go to such a place as that. But what 
gets me is that thing that lets a body see through 
you. Did you truly see the bones in your hand? 
You didn’t imagine it?” 

“ Oh, truly, truly,” in a most positive tone. 

“ And he could see your hip? What did he 
say it was ? ” 

“ He didn’t say, only that it could be easily 
mended and that I wouldn’t feel the hurt. I 
sha’n’t mind a little hurt.” And then he told 
them how nice the little boy walked who was 
going to London, and about the other little boy 
who would never have but one real leg, a little 
girl who was just getting over some dreadful 
burns, and a dozen others, to say nothing of the 
nice nurses. “ And they are all so merry and 
happy. But there are others in the wards that 
can’t sit up. We didn’t see them. And mother’s 
coming down when I am well enough to see com- 
pany. Oh, I wish you could all come.” 

Didn’t they wish it as well ? What ohs and ahs 
and sighs of regret there were. Certainly Chan 
was a hero. 


LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 155 

“ But what an awful sight of money it must 
cost,” said Marigold. 

That thought kept them silent for at least a 
minute. Then Chan announced in a solemn tone, 
“ When I get to be a man I’m going to pay Mr. 
Mann back. Then he may be old and need the 
money.” 

“ I hope you will,” rejoined his mother. 

“ But sometimes people go to hospitals and don’t 
pay anything,” said Linn. 

There were three busy days getting ready for 
school. Marigold rummaged, picked out some 
things that could be made over, and she and Rilla 
sewed. Sunday noon Chan and his mother went 
to the parsonage and told the event to Mr. and 
Mrs. Burnham. 

“ That is really wonderful,” exclaimed the min- 
ister. “ I’m glad the Lord put it in some one’s 
heart to do this. But are you sure the man is 
reliable and that in the end the bills will not come 
back to you ? ” 

“ I expect to pay it some time, but I couldn’t 
just now, and it ought to be done at once,” was 
the mother’s reply. 

“ Oh, Chan, I hope it won’t be dreadful. Doc- 
tors do love to cut and slash so. Is it a free 
place? I wouldn’t trust them.” 


1 56 THE CHILDREN IN THE 

“ There won’t be anything bad, only just to 
push something back in place and no cutting,” 
said Chan with tremendous decision. 

“ Well, I hope you’ll come out of it all right. 
Have you known this man long? ” 

That was Mr. Burnham’s question. Back- 
country folks swing between too much suspicion 
and too much credulity. 

“ Not very long. He took the children up to 
the Falls on a picnic, and gave them a splendid 
time. Dan Wilson lives there.” 

“ Yes, I think I’ve heard of him. The people 
over there at Grafton are rather of the high and 
mighty order. What family has he ? ” 

“ None at all but a housekeeper.” 

“ Well, I shall pray for the utmost success.” 

“ You see, he’s taken a great fancy to Chan,” 
Mrs. Firth explained, as if she felt she must apol- 
ogize for the unusual happening. 

“ I hope he will prove a good and true friend 
to you, Chandler. The Lord be with you and 
preserve you from all ill.” 

The minister and his wife looked at each other 
when the guests were gone. 

“ It’s rather queer,” said she, “ and I wish there 
was a little more time to inquire. I suppose it is 
all right. He bought the Gedney place, and seems 


LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 157 

to be a man of means. And of course there’s 
nothing like a love affair in it, the girls are too 
young, and no one would think of her with eight 
children. Oh, I’ll venture a guess that he means 
to adopt one, and Chan is a delicate little chap 
and likely won’t be able to help along much. I 
think that’s it, and she didn’t want to suggest it 
lest it might fall through.” 

“ Well, that is ,an excellent solution, and I 
hope it may prove true,” returned the minister. 
Monday was washday in Denby, rain or shine, so 
everybody was busy. Mr. Mann had arranged to 
come over for Chan in the afternoon and take him 
down on Tuesday to get a little used to the place. 
After all, it was a sad parting, only Mr. Mann 
would look on the bright side, and inside of two 
weeks Chan’s mother would go down to see him, 
and then one of the children, perhaps several of 
them. When Chan was well they would have a 
picnic down in the city. 

So Chan stepped into the phaeton and waved 
his hand, keeping the tears back until they were 
well on the road, but the others went into the 
house and had a good cry. Not to see him for 
six weeks, maybe longer! They spent a doleful 
evening, and went to bed early. 


CHAPTER X 


HOW LAUREL SET OUT TO FIND CHAN 

Everything looks so different on a bright, 
sunny morning. The children had to hurry off 
to school, for it was a long walk. Tip didn’t want 
to go very much, but Rilla said, “ If you stay 
home you must pick and stem grapes for me all 
day. I’m going to make jam.” 

So he thought he would go, for Prim always 
made things funny. Rilla did only occasionally. 
She was such a busy little housekeeper. Rhoda 
helped pick and tried to train Laurel in ways of 
usefulness; but Rilla was afraid she would eat 
too many, and kept an eye on her. Mrs. Firth 
was to be two days at the Briggs’s sewing, and 
they were very much interested in the matter of 
Chandler. 

“ I’d just let him do all he wanted to,” said Mrs. 
Briggs energetically. “ If he wants to send him 
away to school for an education, I’d let him. Chan 
would make a nice minister, he’s kind of delicate 
looking, and if he should grow up tall — his father 
was tall, I remember — he’d look fine in a pulpit. 

158 


THE LITTLE OLD RED HO USE 159 

I think ministers ought to look according. A little 
stumpy man, or cross-eyed, or with a poor de- 
livery, ought never study for a minister. Linn’s 
smart to learn, though he declares he’ll never be 
a farmer. Maybe this Mr. Mann will give him 
a lift by and by. There’s no chance round here 
for boys unless their fathers have big farms, and 
you just take whatever good comes along. I’m 
sure you deserve it. I don’t see how you’ve kept 
them all together and looking so nice. It was 
such a pity about the twins.” 

Mrs. Firth colored a little. She was always 
hearing that. 

She sewed away, and kept following Chan in 
her mind. To-morrow would be the crucial day. 
She didn’t have to live that just now. He and 
Mr. Mann would have a nice lunch together, and 
there would be some little things to laugh at. 

Aunt Patty still harped on the fact that the 
farm at Tory Corners had not been sold and the 
money divided. There was no justice in one heir’s 
taking everything. And who knew that was really 
her grand-aunt’s will? Lawyers were very ready 
to feather their own nest. 

Bessy Firth almost wished she was home, but 
there was the dollar to earn, and that gave her 
courage. 


i6o THE CHILDREN IN THE 


Rilla picked out some of the nicest bunches of 
grapes, for Mrs. Elsden had offered them four 
cents a pound, and grapes were heavy. Then she 
stemmed and washed and put on the big kettle 
and let them boil while she was getting the dinner 
for the children. Afterward she mashed and 
strained and stewed them down again. They 
made such nice jam to eat on the supper mush, or 
with pancakes in the morning. It saved a sight 
of butter. 

Some one stepped inside the door. It was 
Granny Keen, and Rilla had no heart for such a 
guest, and no time, either. 

Granny Keen had a life-right in one room in 
the house of her stepson, and all her garden truck, 
so she considered herself quite an independent 
woman. She was very fond of neighborly affairs. 

“ I declare I’m real tuckered out,” and she 
dropped into the big rocking-chair. “ I do be- 
lieve I ain’t as young as I was ten year ago,” with 
a little cackle. “ But I did want to know the 
rights of the story, so I could set folks straight. 
People do get things so mixed up. Was there 
some one who took your Chan down to New 
York to have an operation, and is he going to 
lose his leg?” 

“ Oh, no,” returned Rilla impatiently. 


LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 161 


“ Well, I said I knew you’d never be willin’. 
He might better be a little lame than to have only 
one leg. An’ who’s this man that took him down, 
any relation ? ” 

“ It’s a gentleman who lives at Grafton. He 
took a great fancy to Chan, and wanted to see 
if something couldn’t be done for him. Dr. Breen 
advised it in the spring, but mother didn’t see her 
way clear.” 

“ I heard she got some money from that old 
lady after all, and a great bundle of truck.” 

“ Yes,” said Rilla briefly. 

“ ’Nough to pay all expenses?” 

“ We don’t know what they will be, and mother 
will pay as she can,” evasively. “ Mr. Mann is 
to take charge.” 

“Now can you be sure he’s honest? Men do 
cheat so nowadays; and as for the truth they 
don’t tell it half the time, nor t’other half either. 
Don’t you think it’s a great risk? Did your 
mother go down and see the place an’ the doctors ? 
Don’t you know ’bout Mirny Fisk, who went down 
to see about her eye? Oh, no, ’twas afore your 
time. I don’t believe you were born then. She 
was husband’s niece, and she went down to the 
city and paid away fifty good dollars, an’ it didn’t 
do a mite of good. When she come home she 


1 62 THE CHILDREN IN THE 

couldn’t see a mite out of that eye, not even with 
specs. I don’t put much faith in doctors. Do 
you really think his leg will have to come off? 
An’ he so young, too! ’Pears to me I’d about 
as leave he’d die. We’ve all got to die some 
time.” 

Rilla wiped away a tear. “ There is no likeli- 
hood of his losing his leg, I believe,” she said 
firmly. 

“ Well, you can’t ’most always tell. Queer 
things happen in most unexpected places. I 
wouldn’t be too confident. Is his board going to 
be paid, or is it one of them charity places?” 

“ No, he is a paid patient, in a beautiful 
place.” 

“ Then you mark my words. When their board 
is paid they go on keeping ’em, and when it 
isn’t, they shove ’em out mighty quick. You can’t 
depend upon any one in this deceitful world and 
vale of sorrows. Any of the children had measles 
or whooping-cough ? ” 

“ They’ve all had the whooping-cough.” 

“ Well, I declare to man ! How did your 
mother stand it? I should o’ thought she’d gone 
crazy. An’ it’s a wonder she didn’t take it. Peo- 
ple can have it twice I’ve heerd. Now, in old 
times you had it once for all and was done with 


LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 163 

it. But times change so much you never know 
just where you stand. Got plenty of grapes, 
Rilla?” 

“ Yes. Will you have some? ” thinking to dis- 
miss her guest. 

“ I don’t mind if I do. Dave’s wife cut so 
many off for green grape jell that we ain’t hardly 
any ripe ones. Yes, I’ll take some.” Amaryllis 
did them up in a paper bag and handed them to 
her. 

“ Now, when’ll you be likely to hear about 
Chan? I’ll feel reel anxious. For you know 
there’s that blood poisonin’ that sets in with so 
many things, and lockjaw from just a little scratch 
with a rusty nail. It’s strange how many things 
there are to take people out of the world, an’ after 
all we don’t know much about the next one.” 

“ We are not certain when we’ll hear.” 

“ Well, I’ll stop in again. I always feel sym- 
pathy for them in trouble, the Bible commands you 
to. Much obleeged for the grapes. Oh, Rilla, has 
your mother made any risin’ lately? Dave’s wife 
alwers gets it sour, and her bread is enough to 
turn one blue-mouldy. Your mother’s is alwers so 
good.” 

Sometimes Rilla gave the poor old woman a 
loaf, but now she went to the closet and merely 


164 THE CHILDREN IN THE 

broke off a piece of the “ risin’.” Granny stood 
uncertain. 

“ You’ll likely hear the last of the week? ” 

“ Yes — perhaps,” indifferently. 

“ I sh’d want to hear every day by that telegraft 
or the other thing. Strange now, ain’t it, that you 
can hear talking through that sort of funnel-like 
thing? Mr. Beers has one in the store. But 
’t would be a good ways to go. Well, well, I hope 
Chan won’t lose his leg or his life.” 

Rilla laughed and cried both when she was gone. 
Then she stopped to ask herself whether she fixed 
her gelatin to make the jam stiffen a little bit 
without cooking it away so much. She concluded 
she hadn’t. And where were the twins? She 
called up the stairway, as she heard some stirring 
round. 

“ Why didn’t you bring Laurel down ? ” she 
asked of Rhoda. 

“ Laurel hasn’t been there. I’ve been straight- 
enin’ things. That garret looks like a hurrah’s 
nest.” 

What a “ hurrah’s nest ” was Rilla had never 
been able to learn. It was a Denby provincialism 
for unlimited disorder. 

“ Go and look for her, then.” 

Meanwhile Rilla set off her jam to cool a little. 


LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 165 

“ I’d better take the chicken bones and make a 
pot-pie,” she ruminated. “ The children will be 
as hungry as bears when they come home. School 
does make them so hungry. They can’t eat apples 
and pears in between. It takes an awful lot to 
fill up children, and potatoes and dumplings with 
plenty of gravy go tip-top. There isn’t much 
chicken,” viewing it ruefully, “ but it will have 
to do.” 

“ I can’t find Laurel,” announced Rhoda. 
“ Twins is an awful bother, ain’t they, Rilla? 
You see, you can find one, but you never do know 
where ’tother one is.” 

“ Go look in that little grapevine corner. I 
dare say she’s been stuffing herself with grapes 
and there’ll be pains and aches all night, and poor 
mother’ll have to be up coddlin’ her.” 

“ Laurel hasn’t much sense,” said this superior 
infant. “ Do you think she’ll be real smart, 
Rilla? She’s just as old as I am and she don’t 
know half as much.” 

“ Well, you use your knowledge in finding her,” 
returned the elder. 

“ And I’ll hit her a good slap,” Rhoda said 
under her breath. “ There’s trouble enough in 
this house about poor Chan, and so many young 
uns going to school. There shouldn’t be twins, 


1 66 THE CHILDREN IN THE 


that there just shouldn't.” She looked up and 
down the road. 

“ I’ll bet she’s started for the Briggs’s and 
mommy. O dear, I can’t go ’way down there. 
She shall have two real hard slaps when I do 
catch her.” 

With all her wisdom Rhoda had taken the wrong 
tack. 

Laurel had sat on the doorstep a while with 
Dolly in her arms, talking to herself as to what 
she should do for entertainment, though she didn’t 
use so long a word. Then a bright thought 
flashed across the infantile brain that her com- 
panion must share. 

“ Tell you what ’e’ll do, Dolly. We’ll do to 
man’s house an’ det Chan. Man didn’t oughter 
take Chan ’way off to det leg mended.” 

She rose with Dolly clasped close, and looked 
about wistfully. 

“ Man does dis way. Dan does, too. Yes, dis 
yight way. We’ll do an’ say, ‘ Man, det your 
carwidge and bing Chan home yight away, ’cause 
mommy cried when he was tookened away. 
Naughty, bad man.’ ” 

Sometimes she ran, sometimes she trotted. She 
was shorter and fatter than Rhoda. Then all 
out of breath she sat down under a tree. 


LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 167 

“ Dreffel hot, Dolly! Tears run out all over 
my face, and ain’t dot no hank’snuf.” She took 
her dress-skirt and wiped them off, then per- 
formed the same office for Dolly, which did not 
seem to improve her complexion. Dolly had 
bright blue eyes made with ink, and rather strag- 
gling black eyelashes, but Laurel had wanted them, 
the eyes, “ made big so ’tould see,” and thought 
them “ bu’ful.” 

“ All wested now,” and she rose presently. 
“ Long way, Dolly, but we’ll fin’ man an’ say, 
‘ Naughty man. We ’ant Chan an’ we won’t have 
his leg cut off. Dest do an’ det Chan.’ An’ he’ll 
be so ’faid cause we’ll be vewy andry, real mad 
that means, an’ he’ll do an’ bing Chan wight away, 
an’ pomise to be good all the while,” in solemn 
tones. 

Dolly hugged her up closer. Dolly always did 
her part of the responsiveness. 

Then they went on and on. They chased a 
squirrel running in and out of the fence, they tried 
to get a gorgeous blue butterfly, and laughed when 
a robin looked down at them from a fence post. 
She told Dolly a very much jumbled up story that 
she was honest enough to say was Prim’s, but 
Prim wouldn’t have recognized it. Then they 
grew warm and tired again and sat down on a big 


1 68 THE CHILDREN IN THE 


flat stone that was the coping of the post and 
rail fence. The post had the split side out, and 
it made a back to the seat, and it was very com- 
fortable. The soft winds blew about her, the 
birds sang to her, the laden bees hummed, the 
grasshopper whirred, and the band sent the little 
girl fast asleep. 

Amaryllis fixed her dinner and put the potatoes 
in, the dumplings would not need to cook so long. 
She missed Chan’s willing feet and hands already. 
Then she looked with satisfaction on her jars of 
jam and set them out of harm’s way, cleared up 
her kitchen a little, looked up and down the road, 
and then sat down in the old rocker a few mo- 
ments. There was a noisy eruption which might 
have been the whole eight instead of half of them. 

“ Oh, did you see the twins ? ” 

“ Where have they gone — to school ? ” 

“ Why, Laurel strayed off and I sent Rhoda to 
look for her. I’m just tired out. I’ve picked 
grapes and made jam, and there’s a great bag full 
of nice ones for Mrs. Elsden, and Granny Keen 
was here dolefuller than the day of doom. Linn, 
won’t you go out and feed the chickens and then 
chop up some wood ? Rhoda thought Laurel 
might have gone out to find mother. Sure you 
didn’t see anything of them?” 



Sent the tittle girl fast asleep. — Page 168 . 

































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LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 169 

“ Oh, we came ’cross lots. It’s just as sure a 
way home as if you took the longest way round. 
What funny things those old adages are,” laughed 
Marigold. 

“ And I have a bran’-new word,” almost shouted 
Prim. “ I had to stay in at recess and write 
‘ Coliseum ’ over twenty times. Then I looked at 
some pictures in the dictionary. Rill, do you 
really believe the Lord made all these queer ani- 
mals or that they just grew?” 

“ What’s your word ? ” asked Linn, stopping 
at the back door. 

“ It’s just good, and I thought of a story to 
it — real funny.” 

“ I don’t see anything funny about ‘ Good.’ ” 

“ ’Twasn’t ‘good’ silly; it was 'Megatherium,’ 
and there was a picture of him made out of the 
bones they found.” 

“ Well, I can make a gyascutus out of a potato, 
four matches, and some chicken feathers and a bit 
of red flannel. What do they do with your meg 
thing? I don’t believe he is half as good as the 
kron — and all that lingo.” 

“ I think I’ll put a few more syllables to him, 
and I’ll spring him on Miss Norton. When she 
doesn’t know, she gets as mad as a hen in a fence. 


170 THE CHILDREN IN THE 

But you’ve got to spring it sudden on her and act 
as if you were dying for the knowledge.” 

“ What were you doing to be kept in?” asked 
the eldest sister. 

“ A good deed of course. Evil is only good 
misplaced; somewhere else it would be the right 
thing ” 

“ Hush your nonsense. See if there are any 
eggs — I haven’t had a minute this livelong day,” 
said Rilla wearily. 

“ Are livelong days longer than any other ? ” 
asked Marigold seriously. 

“ Well, it’s what you have to put in them. 
And Granny Keen ’most set me wild about 
Chan.” 

“ Everybody’s wild about him,” said Prim. “ I 
’most began to think he’d have to be taken all 
apart and put together like a dissecting puzzle. 
And I couldn’t convince them that he only had to 
be pushed into place and all would be right again. 
Oh, don't you want to hear? How can we 
wait?” 

“ I hope that will be all,” said Rilla, for some- 
how Granny Keen had made her rather despond- 
ent. 

“ All ? Of course it will be,” Marigold flung 
out rather fiercely. “ Don’t you believe Mr. 


LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 171 

Mann? I’d trust him all the world over, and sure 
I’d trust him as little way as New York. His 
face is so good and steady, and his voice wants 
to make you sing for joy. And that elegant 
dimple ! I wish I had it in my cheek this 
minute.” 

“ Lay the table, you girls, though, Prim, I sent 
you after the eggs, Linn will forget them. Oh, 
I do wonder if Laurel’s found!” 

“ Rilla, don’t you think you borrow trouble? 
If a thing is so, why it’s so, and if it isn’t, all 
the worrying won’t make it so. Oh, how splendid 
that pot-pie smells! Rilla, ain’t you afraid the 
dumplings will fall and be heavy, or some of it 
burn? ” 

The last sentence was uttered in such a lugubri- 
ous tone that Rilla laughed, tired as she was. 

Prim came in with four eggs. 

“ That will just make up the dozen for Mrs. 
Winter, and she always pays cash down.” 

Linn had thrown the corn into the chicken 
houses and shut them up for the night. The 
fragrance of the supper lured him, and he just 
stopped to pick up an armful of wood. Mother 
would have her supper at Mrs. Briggs’s ; the twins, 
likely. So they sat down, and the platefuls dis- 
appeared rapidly. 


172 THE CHILDREN IN THE 

“ There ain’t much chicken,” said Tip. “ We 
had the chicken yesterday.” 

“ Tip,” began his brother solemnly, “ there was 
once a man stopped at a country hotel, and when 
he came down to breakfast there was only a dish 
of mackerel and a cup of mustard on the table, 
and he said, ‘ Is there anything else ? I don’t like 
mackerel.’ 4 Then help yourself to mustard,’ said 
the landlord. Tip, help yourself to potatoes and 
crust, and bread and jam. See what a lot of 
things you have.” 

Tip studied a moment. “ Didn’t he have any 
breakfast? Mustard is bitey and burny. And 
you put plasters on sick people.” 

“Tip, you are progressing. Marigold, isn’t the 
first physical science, and the other, — well, that 
pertains to medical ” 

“ Therapeutics,” spelled Prim triumphantly. 

“ Oh, Primrose, your knowledge astounds me, 
especially in the spelling line.” 

“ That’s in Friday’s lesson. I’ll bet there won’t 
be one there to spell it right.” 

“ Hello! ” Linn jumped up. A rough country 
wagon had halted at the door. “ What’s to pay 
now ! ” 

Farmer Bird sat there with a bundle in his 


arms. 


LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 173 

“ This is one of your young ’uns I guess. I 
found her up head of the lane asleep. Why n’t 
you take better care of her with night cornin’ 
on?” 

“ Oh ! ” exclaimed Linn. “ Rilla, come here. 
Why, it’s Laurel.” 

“Are you tall enough to catch holt of her?” 
He leaned over a little. “ Hold Pete steady an’ 
I’ll step out.” 

“ Oh, I can take her,” and Rilla stretched up 
both arms. “ Where was she ? ” 

“ Head o’ the lane, leanin’ ’gainst a post. 
Steady now. Gee! She sleeps sound as a turtle 
in winter ! ” 

He lowered her carefully into Rilla’s arms. 
Then she stirred a little and murmured, “ ’Ants 
muver ! ” 

“ Poor baby ! Thank you over a dozen times, 
Mr. Bird.” 

“ Sho now ! Anybody’d ’a’ done it.” 

“ Then I should have thanked anybody,” and 
there was a laugh in Rilla’s voice. 

“ Better look closer after her next time. Gid- 
dap, Pete.” 

“ Up the lane. Rhoda went the other way.” 
She stood Laurel down on the ground. “ Naughty 
baby to stray way off.” 


i 7 4 THE CHILDREN IN THE 

“ Touldn’t find man's house an' ’anted Chan.” 

“ Oh, the idea ! I wonder if she really went 
after Chan?” 

“ ’Anted poor Chan. Naughty man to tate him 
away.” 

Rilla led her into the house. Marigold had just 
lighted the lamp, and it made her blink her eyes. 

“ ’Ant to go to bed. Dolly so tiwed. Lally 
tiwed too.” 

“ Don’t you want any supper?” 

“ Lally so tiwed.” 

“ Poor baby. I’ll just put her to bed. Oh, what 
a dirty face ! ” 

She made no demur at having it washed, and 
the elder undressed her. 

“ That’s queer,” began Prim. “ Laurel isn’t 
given to straying off. O my ! Suppose she’d had 
to stay there all night ! ” 

“ Oh, she wouldn’t ! We’d all turned out and 
searched.” 

“ It’s funny, her going after Chan. Hello ! 
There’s some more carriage company,” and Mari- 
gold ran out. 

It was her mother and Rhoda brought home by 
Jim Briggs in the buggy. 

“Where’s Laurel? Have you found her?” 
was the mother’s anxious inquiry. 


LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 175 

“ Oh, yes, she’s safe in bed. I sent Rhoda out 
to look for her. Did she come clear down to the 
Briggs’s? ” 

“ Mat picked her up. Dear me ! I’ve had a 
sort of worriment for the last hour. They would 
make us stay to supper as Jim was going over to 
Lauter’s. Jim’s courting pretty steady. What 
did get into the children ! ” 

“ Laurel was going to find Chan. And I’ve 
been so busy,” explained Amaryllis. “ Look at 
my jars of jam, and Granny Keen came and ’most 
worried me to death talking it over, as if we 
didn’t feel bad enough ourselves. Oh, do you 
suppose ” 

“ I’m just going to pin my faith to Mr. Mann, 
with a good, big safety pin at that ! ” interposed 
Marigold. “ And by this time it’s all over, and 
they’ll keep Chan comfortable as a kitten. I won’t 
let any one worry me with their horrid supposes.” 

“ That’s right, Marigold. I wonder why every- 
body wants you to look on the dark side ? ” said 
the mother. 

“ I suppose Laurel was losted,” began Rhoda. 
“ Why couldn’t she stayed around the door where 
we could see her. And I was so tired my legs 
’most fell out.” 

“ Well, you are all safe now,” said the mother. 


176 THE LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 

“ Rilla, your jam looks very nice. And Mrs. 
Briggs offered to dip over those black skirts for 
me, and they’ll make a nice dress. Goodness 
knows, I need it bad enough.” 

“ And when will my coat get made ? ” inquired 
Linn. 

“ Oh, I’ll have some time presently,” said the 
mother. 

They cleared the table and straightened up 
things, put Rhoda to bed, and Tip, who sniffed a 
little because he wanted to see Chan. 

“ Oh, hush up ! ” exclaimed the tired mother. 

The older children studied a while. Rilla sat 
down in the old big rocker and nodded, and pres- 
ently the lights were out and all was quiet in the 
little old red house, but the last thought of them 
all was about Chan, Chan who was roaming about 
in a sort of enchanted land still full of fragrances. 


CHAPTER XI 


THE CROWN OF HOPE 

Mr. Mann came in to see how it fared with 
him. Nurse Jane made Chan’s acquaintance at 
once. No, indeed, he wasn’t going to be afraid, 
for Dr. Richards said many little boys stood worse 
things than that. 

They fixed him all right, and gave him some- 
thing to smell of that seemed like apple and pear 
blooms, and when he woke up from a lovely sleep 
he was lying on a little cot with something hard 
and queer around his body that startled him at 
first. 

“ It’s the plaster cast,” Nurse Jane explained. 
“ They pushed the joint back in place and it’s all 
right with you now, and you will grow straight 
as a yardstick. The plaster will hold it there, 
you see, so it can’t slip away.” 

“ Did they have to use a trowel ? ” 

There was a little glint of mischief in Chan’s 
eye, and Nurse Jane laughed at such a good sign. 
Then she washed his face with some kind of 
perfumed water and he dropped off to sleep again. 

177 


1 78 THE CHILDREN IN THE 

It was a rather disturbed sleep with curious half- 
dreams of sliding down hill over very crusty and 
uneven snow. Last winter he had never been 
able to slide down hill or go sledding. 

He woke up late in the afternoon with the feel- 
ing that some one was looking at him. It wasn’t 
his dear momsey, but perhaps the next best, Mr. 
Mann. 

“ Oh,” stretching up his arms with a sweet, wel- 
coming cry. 

Mr. Mann leaned over until his warm, rosy face 
touched the pale one, and then he actually kissed 
it, kissed it for the sake of the little boy he used 
to dream about and never had. 

“ And it’s all right, little fellow. It wasn’t so 
very bad after all, but it would have made you a 
cripple for life if it had not been attended to. 
I’ll send word to your mother. She’ll be so glad 
to hear.” 

“ And the nurse is so nice. Oh, how many poor 
little hurt children there are! And to think they 
can be mended and grow nice and straight. It’s 
like that pool mother reads about in the Bible 
where some one stirred the water and they went in 
and were made whole. How many beautiful 
things there are in the world, and people! Will 
you go and see mother? ” 


LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 179 

“ Yes, to-night. I didn't go home yesterday, I 
wanted to see how you were this morning.” 

“ Oh, I’m all right, but I know how a turtle 
feels crawling around with that hard shell on his 
back, only I can’t even crawl. But I’ll just lie 
here straight and not make any trouble, and I’ll 
think of the funny stories Prim tells, and the ridic- 
ulous ideas the twins have, and how Tip cries 
over foolish little things, and the chickens and the 
squirrels that are so tame now, and the children 
coming home from school, and Rilla cook- 
ing good things to eat when mother is out to 
work.” 

“ You’ll have enough to entertain yourself then, 
and that’s the way to get well. I’ll be in to-mor- 
row and tell you about all the folks.” 

Then Mr. Mann bent over and gave him another 
kiss. Why, it was almost as good as having a real 
father. 

It seemed very queer to lie on one’s back and 
just have your head held up a little to be fed, 
but Nurse Jane was so nice. She reminded him 
of Mrs. Alden, and she wore such a pretty, soft 
white something that looked like a big handker- 
chief crossed over her bosom. Her hands were 
so soft, and her hair had a little waviness in it 
and was partly covered by an odd, dainty cap. 


i8o THE CHILDREN IN THE 


Sometimes sharp pains went shooting through 
Chan’s hip, and oh, if he could only move his 
body a little! So he made his arms do duty. 
Sometimes they were soldiers marching to and 
fro, sometimes one kept store and the other came 
to buy things. He could see the hens and the 
chickens and the lazy old cat that was shrewd 
enough to keep out of the way of the twins, for 
he didn’t want Laurel to hug him nor Rhoda to 
cuff his ears ; and the flower bed, and the long rows 
of corn that he used to play was a forest and get 
lost in it, as a little German child in his reading 
book did; and there was that lovely Pilot over to 
Mr. Mann’s, and cunning, frolicsome Bitsy. Oh, 
what a splendid place the world was, especially 
the country! 

Mr. Mann brought such good news from home. 
Everybody was well, and next week his mother 
would come in to see him. 

They took the plaster off, and swathed him in 
a bandage, and put a light sort of frame clear 
down to his ankle. That wasn’t nearly so bad, 
for now he could be bolstered up and feed him- 
self and look over some story books full of beauti- 
ful pictures. Oh, if Prim could see them, and 
the spandy new stories! For they had to keep 
changing their fairy stories and adding to those 


LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 181 


about animals, which were really ^Esop’s Fables. 
Linn could stretch them out marvelously. 

And one morning he ventured to sing a little, 
not any song of words, but just as the robin and 
the thrush did. Of course now they would be go- 
ing off somewhere. Oh, what was the South like 
where there wasn’t any snow, and flowers all the 
year round? Up and down the music went, now 
just a mere sound, then a merry little trill like a 
whistle. Why, you might almost think it was a 
thrush. 

A little hand almost like a bird’s claw was 
thrust out and caught Nurse Jane’s dress. She 
turned. This was a very pale, thin little fellow 
with big, wistful blue eyes. 

“ Is it a truly bird or is some one singing?” 
he asked. “ It sounds like singing, but there isn’t 
any words.” 

“ I think it’s a little boy over beyond. Shall I 
tell him to stop ? ” 

“ Oh, no, no! It’s so beautiful. It brings the 
country and the spring right before you. It was 
June when I came here. You’re all so good, 
better than the nurse at home, but the country 
is so lovely.” 

The singing had stopped. “ What is the boy 
like ? ” Arthur asked. 


1 82 THE CHILDREN IN THE 

“ Oh, he’s a country boy — well, not exactly 
pretty or plain, with soft brown eyes, and a sweet 
sort of voice that sounds as if it had a laugh in 
it, and he is cheerful and merry.” 

“ Is he going to get well ? What happened to 
him?” 

“ Oh, yes. It wasn’t a very serious matter, 
only he would have been lame for life if it hadn’t 
been attended to. In a few weeks he will be able 
to go home.” 

Arthur sighed, and some tears rolled down his 
cheeks. 

“ I wish he’d sing some more. Oh, Nurse 
Jane, do you think I could be taken over there 
and see him? I’d like to see him.” 

This ward was not all one long space with the 
cots in a row, but was made into little booths by 
the use of screens. The very severe cases were 
down to the lower end, indeed some of the fractious 
patients were by themselves. Nurse Jane looked 
at the poor little fellow for whom the doctors said 
now there was no hope, for his little heart was 
’most worn out. The operations had eased him 
some, but it was a very bad case. 

“ We will just have to keep him comfortable,” 
the doctor said. “ It can’t be for long. Poor, 
patient little fellow. Money can’t do everything.” 


LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 183 

“ I'll see/’ Nurse Jane said. The little fellow 
in the next cot to Chan was going away in a day 
or two. 

“ I’ve been singing,” exclaimed Chan with a 
bright flush as the nurse approached. “ Mother’s 
coming to-day, and I’m so glad. I just wanted 
to jump up and down. Did I make too much 
noise? I’m sorry ” 

“ No. You might sing some more. The chil- 
dren liked it, and it was charming. There is a 
little boy over beyond who was just delighted. 
But don’t sing yourself tired.” 

“ Oh, I don’t believe anything would tire me, 
I feel so well. Why, I’m gay as a lark.” 

The nurse smiled as she went on. 

“Who is that singing?” asked the head nurse. 
“ Why, it’s like a bird. Has any child here a voice 
like that?” 

“ It is the little Firth boy that Mr. Mann 
brought here. He certainly has a wonderful 
voice, and he’s the cheeriest little fellow. It 
wasn’t a bad case at all. His mother is coming 
to-day, and I’m anxious to see what she is like. 
There are eight children in the family and 
all as sound as a nut, yet they must be poor, 
too.” 

“ Well, I should say the child had a fortune 


184 THE CHILDREN IN THE 

in his voice. Just listen to that! It’s as clear as 
a bell.” 

“ That Wilmer boy is going out of the ward 
to-day or to-morrow, and Arthur wondered if 
he couldn’t come nearer the fascinating voice. 
Why, it quite roused him.” 

“ I don’t see any objection. A change is bene- 
ficial sometimes.” 

Yes, Chan was very merry, but he had to keep 
so much of it inside. It couldn’t help shining in 
his eyes and playing about his lips in the gayest of 
smiles. He wished he knew a song about 
mothers. There were some about babies. Was 
there ever such a long morning! And then came 
dinner. What if mother had not come! 

“ Don’t get excited,” said the nurse, smiling as 
well. But his little hands were moist, and though 
his cheeks were red, the little dampness at the 
edge of his forehead made the hair curl some- 
what. Why, he was quite a good-looking child 
now that the tan had gone off and the few freckles 
disappeared. 

Mrs. Firth had managed her new frock. It 
wasn’t exactly tailor-made, but it looked very well, 
only the coat and the bonnet were — well, hardly 
passable. And in the train Mr. Mann kept think- 
ing. He wondered how he had come to notice 


LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 185 

women’s clothes so much. Mrs. Alden was al- 
ways so neat and trim, and Mrs. Ross. Oh, now 
he had it, and he smiled until the dimple went 
almost through his cheek. 

“ You must have a new coat and hat,” he said. 
“ City people dress so much more. And for 
Chan’s sake. He’ll be mortal proud of you be- 
fore the nurses. And no doubt you’ll see the 
doctor. I’ll take you to that friend, Mrs. Ross, 
my partner’s wife, and she’ll tell you what to get, 
something just right and not too fine.” 

“ Mr. Mann — but ” Her lip quivered and 

she was breathless, speechless after she had 
glanced at his steadfast face. 

“ Oh,” he said in a most matter-of-fact tone, 
“ Chan’ll pay it all back some day. You needn’t 
be afraid.” 

Mrs. Firth wasn’t a born fighter or a born 
arguer, and for the last six months or so Amaryl- 
lis and Linn had taken it upon themselves to ad- 
vise, and Rill’s was so good and sensible that she 
yielded as she had to her husband except on the 
two or three occasions. The boys must certainly 
try to pay back everything. She found Mrs. Ross 
living very simply, and certainly cordial. They 
had a congenial topic — children. 

“ Though I can’t imagine what I should do with 


1 86 THE CHILDREN IN THE 


eight,” said Mrs. Ross. “ My three keep me 
pretty busy sewing. And you haven’t any ma- 
chine. And there’s stockings to darn.” 

“ You don’t have ’em all at once, and the big 
ones help take care of the little ones. Marigold 
darns all the stockings, and Rilla’s the handiest 
girl. Then Primrose is so fond of knitting, and 
she’s the greatest speller you ever saw. The boys 
do a good bit of gardening. Their father was 
great on that business. And we have the house, 
so there isn’t any rent to pay.” 

“ That does make a difference. Rent eats up a 
lot of money.” 

So they went out and shopped; not at the great 
stores, but at rather quiet places. Mrs. Firth was 
using her eyes everywhere so as to tell Rilla when 
she went home. Then they returned and had a 
sort of pick-up luncheon, but oh, how pretty the 
dishes were ! And the table was arranged in such 
a neat fashion, like Mrs. Burnham’s. The ordi- 
nary Denby people were not great on style. This 
would suit Marigold. And the children were so 
well trained. And hers were noisy with fun. 

Mr. Mann came for her. Woman-like, they 
had gossiped a little about him. Of course Mrs. 
Ross thought he never could be foolish enough 
to assume the care of eight children, though she 


LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 187 

rather suspected he meant to adopt Chan. They 
both agreed about his virtues, and how benevolent 
he was. Mrs. Firth was glad to hear how gener- 
ous he had been to the Rosses. Then it wasn’t 
such a wonderful thing that he should befriend 
them. 

“ I suspect he wasn’t very happy in his married 
life. From what I can gather I think his wife 
was one of the driving, saving folks, and lived 
in a kind of penurious manner. And now he has 
such a splendid home, and Mrs. Alden, have you 
seen her? ” 

“ Oh, no, I haven’t been over to the house. 
Some of the children have. Marigold thinks it 
even ahead of the parsonage, and it’s ever so much 
larger.” 

“ And now he ought to have a nice wife who 
would study his happiness and who would pull 
the way he wants to and let him be generous 
when he feels so inclined. It’s such a pleasure 
to him. And I can’t help thinking, even hoping — 
it would be just the thing ” 

She looked intently at Mrs. Firth. The face 
had the sweet innocence of a child. 

“ What would ? ” she asked almost eagerly. 

“ If he would marry Mrs. Alden. She is a 
perfect housekeeper and she has such a sympa- 


1 88 THE CHILDREN IN THE 


thetic sort of nature and such a sweet temper. 
I’ve known her for years. ,, 

“ Oh, that would be splendid ! Why, little 
Tip cried in the night — he often wakes up fright- 
ened, and she came in and cuddled him up so, 
‘ just like you, mommy/ Chan said, and soon 
hushed him to sleep. All of ’em liked her so much. 
And if he should take any poor, little orphan 
child out of an asylum as he once spoke of, she’d 
be as good as an own mother to him.” 

She wasn’t even thinking of saddling one of 
her own children upon him, Mrs. Ross could see 
that. However did the absurd idea come into 
her head that he might be attracted to Mrs. Firth? 

When he came in he was surprised to see how 
much she was improved by her new coat and hat. 
And she had a very curious and lovely feeling 
toward him, as if she had in some way surprised 
the secret of his life, something that was to make 
him very happy, and surely he deserved it. 

Then they went to the hospital, and he presented 
her to two of the doctors and the nurses, and 
heard such good accounts of Chandler. And 
Nurse Jane convoyed her to the ward and left her 
kneeling there by the cot with her boy’s arms 
about her neck. 

Of course they cried a little, but it was for 


LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 189 

pure joy, and then she took the chair by the cot, 
and laid aside her hat, and they began to talk. 
He wanted to know all that had happened, and 
laughed at some of the lugubrious predictions. 

“ Oh, won’t I surprise them all when I come 
home straight and don’t have to wabble! Of 
course I’ll have to be careful for a while, and I 
can’t skate any this winter, but then, I couldn’t 
last winter, and it wasn’t so awful hard. Why, 
you can do without a good many things if you 
put something else in their places.” 

Then she had to tell what Linn was studying, 
and about all she could remember was the geog- 
raphy of Japan and China. And Marigold looked 
after the chickens a good deal, and they had sold 
a barrel of winter pears and two barrels of apples, 
and had orders for all their quinces. Prim was 
finding big words and putting ridiculous stories to 
them, and Laurel still talked crooked words, and 
how she had started for Mr. Mann’s house to 
bring Chan back, and about the neighbors, even 
to Granny Keen, who was quite sure Chan would 
never come back alive. 

“ And I’ve never been sick nor had a bit of 
fever. Dr. Richards says I am the very best 
patient he ever had,” laughed Chan. 

“ And Jim Briggs is going to be married at 


1 9 o THE CHILDREN IN THE 

Thanksgiving. Mrs. Briggs is always cleaning 
house, I do believe, and now she’s making her 
new rag carpet. Goldie and Prim are going to 
sew rags for her. She’s got two breadths yet to 
make. And they have a new baby at the War- 
ners’, and Katy Burnham’s been sick again, and 
old Mr. Cross is dead.” 

“ Dear, how many changes I’ll find when I get 
back. But it’ll be just grand to see me go walk- 
ing round on two good legs ! And did you make 
Rilla’s pretty new dress ? ” 

Yes, and she had made Linn such a nice coat 
out of Aunt Hitty’s cloak, and Goldie had a new 
dress out of a plaid skirt that the girls at school 
thought was splendid. 

“ And you’ve got a nice new bonnet, mother. 
Oh, and a new coat ! ” 

She blushed. “Yes, Mr. Mann insisted that I 
should have them. I s’pose he wanted the folks 
here to think your mother was some great things. 

And, Chan ” She blushed still deeper. “ I 

didn’t have the money, but he said when you were 
big enough to work you’d pay it back. And oh, 
Chan, I hope you will and all the cost here. You 
can’t pay back the pure goodness part, but the 
money ” 

“ Oh, yes. You’ll see. Linn and I will 


LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 191 

straighten up things. Why, mother, presently 
we’ll be grown-up men, and Linn is bound to make 
money some way. I wish he could be a doctor 
in a big city. And Rilla would make such a 
splendid nurse. Think of eight big sons and 
daughters ! But we’d like the twins to stay little.” 

“ Oh, Chan, I was so afraid something would 
happen to you.” 

She had her arms about his neck, and was 
kissing him fondly. 

“ Why, it wasn’t bad at all, momsey. They 
didn’t have to cut a bit. And the other day they 
brought in a little boy run over, with his leg all 
smashed, and they did have to cut it off. And 
another one caught in a machine, with his scalp 
partly torn off, and nurse said they fixed him up 
as good as new. It’s just wonderful! But they 
only had to screw me up in a vise,” and he laughed. 
“ I was a good deal afraid when Mr. Mann first 
talked about it. Don’t you know they always tell 
you it doesn’t hurt to have a tooth pulled and 
it just does. But now they put you in a lovely 
sleep and you don’t know anything about it.” 

“ I’m so glad,” she returned, “ and that you can 
get quite well. Oh, are you — is everybody sure ? ” 

“ Yes. Why, I can feel it even if I am bound 
up tight and my leg stretched out. But you’re 


1 92 THE CHILDREN IN THE 

the dearest mother, and I shall be so glad to get 
back to you all.” 

Then they kissed each other dozens of times, 
and held hands like lovers. It seemed only such 
a little while when Nurse Jane came and said Mr. 
Mann was waiting for his mother, and if he wasn’t 
too much excited he might see him for a few 
moments. She thought it would make the good-by 
easier. 

“ Oh, I’m not excited,” said Chan with shining 
eyes. “ I’m only full and running over with 
happiness.” 

The nurse was right. Mrs. Firth had been 
wondering how she could leave her boy, but it 
was quite a tranquil parting after all. 

“ Now you must lie perfectly still for half an 
hour. I’ll put a little clock here, but I wish you 
might go to sleep.” 

“ I’ll try,” returned Chan, “ but I’d like to get 
up and dance.” 

They both laughed at that. 

He thought how pretty his mother looked in 
her new coat and hat, and how good Mr. Mann 
was. And some day he would be earning money, 
and no one would say “ Poor Chan ! ” to him. He 
had been afraid to ask the doctor or the nurse 
when he would be able to go home, but they would 


LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 193 

have to unwind him and take this brace off his leg, 
and then he would have to be in the convalescing 
room. It would all come around right, now that he 
had seen his mother. He followed her in the 
journey home, and saw all the children crowding 
round her eager to hear. And how Rilla would 
like her new coat and hat ! 

“ I’ll have to come and read you to sleep. And 
you haven’t eaten scarcely any supper,” said 
nurse. 

“ That’s because I’m chock full of delight. 
There wasn’t any room,” he laughed. 

However, Chan was none the worse. 

Little Wilmer was taken to the sunshine room 
to be with the convalescents. He said “ good-by ” 
to Chan in a glad tone, and the boy could not 
blame him. 

“ We’re going to bring a little boy here who 
was so delighted to hear you sing yesterday. He 
has a bad spinal trouble, but we hope sometime 
he will be better. His father and mother are 
away in Europe.” 

“ Oh, I’m glad my mother isn’t that far off. 
You know she has to be father, too.” 

They brought Arthur on his cot, and settled 
him in the other place. Oh, how white and thin 
he was ! Chan was startled. The nurse arranged 


i 9 4 THE CHILDREN IN THE 

the pillows about him and gave him some milk. 

“ Would the little boy sing?” he asked in a 
faint tone. 

“ I guess so. Chan ” — he had asked nurse to 
call him that so he wouldn’t be homesick — “ would 
you mind singing in that low tone ? ” 

“ Like the birds,” said Arthur. “ Not songs 
with rhyme to them.” 

“ Oh, no,” returned Chan cheerfully. 

So he sang, and some of the others listened as 
well. It was very sweet, and he tried to think 
of what the birds said to each other in the spring 
mornings. 

“ That’s lovely for headache,” said Arthur. 
“ My head doesn’t ache as much. Does yours 
ache often?” 

“ Oh, no, unless I hit it a hard bump. Nothing 
about me ached until I hurt my hip.” 

“ How did you do it ? ” 

“ Fell out of a tree. Discated something. 
No, the word’s longer’n that. I’ve left out a part 
in the middle. But it’s getting well, so it doesn’t 
need such a long word. I don’t know about the 
spine, except it’s the chain of joints that go down 
your back. Is yours hurt very much ? ” 

“ Oh, there’s a big hump between my shoulders, 
and that can never be taken away. Father thought 


H 



“Would the little boy sing?” he asked. — Page 104. 






LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 195 

maybe it might. Oh, will you sing again? The 
headache is coming back.” 

“ I’ll have to sing the same things over. I don’t 
know very much — a few Sunday-school hymns.” 

“ Oh, I like that best because it’s like the birds ! 
Our house is in the country, so I’ve heard them 
sing. I don’t know how you can do it.” 

“ Why, it’s just as easy — as talking.” 

So he sang, and put in little calls and whistles 
and variations, and when Nurse Jane came she 
found Arthur asleep. 

“ Why, Chan, you have charmed him,” and she 
bent over and kissed him. “ Chan, you have a 
well of happiness somewhere about you and it 
overflows, but you mustn’t tax yourself too much.” 

So Chan lay quiet and thought about his mother 
and the others, but his mother mostly, and he was 
so glad she was “ dressed up ” and looked so pretty. 
Some women came in to see their invalids who 
wore very fine clothes and beautiful gold chains, 
but there was something in his mother’s face — he 
could not make it quite clear to himself — but it 
was the mother-love that made her different from 
every one else. Oh, how the time stretched out! 
Weeks never were so long before, but they would 
come to an end. It was splendid here with the 
kind nurses, the great rooms, the cleanliness, the 


1 96 THE LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 

flowers that came in every day. But there was 
the suffering, too, only how wonderful it was that 
little boys could come and be mended. There was 
a ward of little girls, too, and he had heard that 
some of them — well, there was heaven. And if 
you didn’t have anybody it would be nice to go 
there, but there were eight of them and mother, 
and they could never leave mother. 


CHAPTER XII 


A SONG IN THE NIGHT 

The two boys were soon great friends. Arthur 
really seemed to improve. When he told of the 
handsome house and fine grounds, the conservatory 
where they had flowers all winter, the two gar- 
deners, the horses and the automobile, the com- 
pany coming and going and the pictures, the piano 
and the organ, it seemed very grand. Chan was 
almost ashamed of their little old house. 

“ Oh, you wouldn’t think us a bit nice ! ” he ex- 
claimed deprecatingly. 

“ But I do think you are nice,” very earnestly, 
“ the nicest boy I ever knew. You know so many 
funny things and you are all so jolly together, and 
I like your names. Tip is such a cute name, and 
his crying without any reason just makes you feel 
like laughing. And Prim’s funny stories, and 
Marigold ! Oh, I wish I could get well enough to 
come and see you. And your mother who cuddles 
you all. No one cuddles me except the nurse. The 
nurses here are so nice. The one I had home 


197 


198 THE CHILDREN IN THE 

wasn’t — well, I think she didn’t like me much. 
And Harry, that’s my own brother, is big and 
strong and goes to boarding-school, and is always 
talking baseball and riding his pony when he is 
home. And the new mother’s children are little 
and are kept in the nursery, and she’s all for splen- 
did dressing and company. She’s handsome, too, 
and has lots of diamonds that make her glitter. 
But she never kisses me. Don’t you know, some 
people seem warm and come close to your heart 
like that man who visits you. He has such a splen- 
did face, just pink and white and round, and that 
dimple just makes you smile. My father’s dark 
and has a black beard, and I feel almost afraid of 

him. And the hump on my back ” 

“ Oh, don’t cry ! ” pleaded Chan. “ Our house is 
poor and old and hasn’t nice things in, but if you 
could come mother’d just love you because of — 
because you are ill and can’t do things like other 
boys, and Prim will just keep you laughing. And 
Linn is the greatest fellow to jump and do stunts. 
Amaryllis is so nice, she’s like mother, and the 
twins will amuse you. You shall have my cot 
and I’ll hop off upstairs. I’ll be all well then, and 
we’ll get Mr. Mann to take us out riding, with a 
lot of things to eat. You won’t mind about the — 
the ” and Chan felt his face burn. 


LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 199 

“ I sha’n’t mind anything if I can be with you 
and the children. Next summer — maybe father 
will be home Thanksgiving ; they went to Europe 
in June. That’s when he sent me here. I don’t 
know whether I’ll go home or not — it’s nicer here. 
And I’ll just try to get better. I’m so glad I’ve 
found you, Chan. And — next summer ! ” 

“ Yes,” returned Chan. If they hadn’t a fine 
house, they would make him happy, and Mr. Mann 
would help. 

“ You see I have to stay alone so much at home. 
There you are all so close together. How old are 
you? ” 

“ About half-past eight, I think.” 

“ And I’m after ten. My birthday is in May, 
and I always get a lot of things. When I come 
I’ll bring you ever so many of them. Now I’m 
tired. Oh, I just wish I could hold your hand. 
Sing a little for me.” 

“ Arthur Collamore certainly is improving,” 
nurse said to the doctor. “ Why, he has quite an 
appetite and the headaches are not as bad.” 

“ That is owing to the anodynes. It is all we 
can do for him now, and Chan keeps up his spirits. 
That boy ought to be educated for a doctor. He 
has a peculiar power, mesmeric, perhaps. It’s in 
his voice and his smile, and the charm about it is 


200 THE CHILDREN IN THE 


his unconsciousness. But Arthur’s heart grows 
weaker every day. I hope at the last he will just 
drop out. His father is quite prepared for that, 
and I don’t know as we could pray for him to live. 
Keep him as happy as you can. Chan is doing 
splendidly. I suppose Mrs. Firth loves every one 
of the eight just as she loves him. I wish some 
one could endow her with a fortune.” 

They both smiled over that unlikelihood. 

Chan did improve rapidly. The doctor took off 
the bandages and found that everything was all 
right when he worked the joint gently. 

“ Oh ! ” and the boy drew a long, delighted 
breath. “ Can’t it stay off! It feels so splendid! 
And can’t you take that thing off my leg? Why 
do you want to stretch it? You’ll get it longer 
than the other and I’ll be a limpy-dick after 
all!” 

The doctor laughed. “ You had been making it 
just the least bit crooked and we want it nice and 
straight. Now Nurse Mary will come and mas- 
sage you, and you’ll feel made over new. But 
you’ll have to go back in prison again. We can’t 
let you out for good.” 

Chandler sighed. But the little liberty felt so 
good, and the consciousness that he would be all 
well sped joyfully through every vein. And Ar- 


LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 201 

thur would have such a nice time with them next 
summer ! They’d make him forget the poverty 
and the plainness. 

“ Who is that singing?” Mr. Gwynne said one 
afternoon, when he had come in to see Dr. Rich- 
ards on some other business. “ Or is it a mocking- 
bird? ” 

“ It’s our bird charming a poor little patient be- 
yond mortal help — just a little child.” 

“ A child capable of that ? Can’t I go a little 
nearer? I want to see him.” 

“If you don’t mind the ward. But the worst 
cases are hidden by the screens.” 

They stepped in. Mr. Gwynne trod softly, but 
the sound stopped. 

“ Oh, have him sing a little more.” 

Chan knew Arthur had fallen asleep by the 
breathing, so he had paused. 

“Chan,” said the doctor, “please sing a little 
more for me, unless you are tired.” 

“ Oh, no, not a bit. But I wish I knew a real 
pretty song for you.” 

“ Oh, just that same will do.” 

Howard Gwynne came a little nearer. Chan’s 
face was not quite in his direction, at least the 
child did not notice it at first and went on in a 
kind of careless gladness. 


202 THE CHILDREN IN THE 


“ That is really remarkable. I must know the 
little fellow.’’ 

Chan flushed at first, then smiled and held out 
his hand. 

“ Where did you pick up all that? From the 
birds? ” 

“ I guess so. It isn’t any special tune. Birds 
haven’t any note books.” 

“ But who taught you? ” 

“ No one. Marigold, that’s my sister, and I try 
how near we can come to them. I can do the 
robin best, but she’s great on the thrush. But we 
sing some hymns in Sunday-school. And mother 
knows a few old songs, but she can’t go up on the 
high notes.” 

“ Well, my boy, your voice has some remarkable 
capabilities that could be brought out by training, 
and it ought to be of some service. You can’t 
quite be sure what a voice will be after it changes, 
but there would be some years — where do you 
live?” 

“ Oh, ’way off in a country place.” 

“ What happened to him ? ” to the doctor. 

“ A rather bad fall that wasn’t attended to, but 
he will soon be all right. A friend placed him 
here — a Mr. Mann, who knows all about them, 
the family I mean. There are eight children, three 


LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 203 

younger than this one, all sound, and I guess about 
as smart as they make them. Poor but honest,” 
smiling. 

“ And this Mr. Mann ! A sort of guardian, I 
suppose. Can you give me his address? I go out 
to Chicago at two to-day and have a series of con- 
certs on hand. But I must keep in touch with this 
boy. I might put something quite worth having 
in his way. Nice-looking little fellow. Where’s 
the father, and what is he ? ” 

“ He has been dead for some years. The mother 
looks after them all.” 

“ Eight children ! Well, she must be remarkable, 
too. I’m curiously interested. Voices are in my 
line, you know. Will you give me the guardian’s 
address? I may not see him to-day, but I can 
write. That voice will haunt me. Good-by, little 
lad. Get well and strong, and before long I shall 
hunt you up,” and he bowed his adieu. 

“ What did he want? ” Chan asked of the doc- 
tor afterward. 

“ Well, I don’t just know. He’s a fine man, has 
to do with music, gives concerts and the like, 
and might do something nice for you by and 
by.” 

“ I shouldn’t go away with him. If ever I get 
home, and I feel sometimes as if I could run bare- 


204 THE CHILDREN IN THE 

foot and alone. I want to see ’em all so much, 
and I’ll never go away again.” 

“ You can’t run yet awhile. You’ll have to 
spend two or three weeks upstairs learning to walk. 
It will be rather queer for you. And I have a 
good mind to keep you here for my little boy and 
educate you for a doctor.” 

“Oh, I must go home, you see. If you had a 

mother ” Chan winked hard. He did not 

want to be homesick, but sometimes a great lump 
came up in his throat, he wanted to see them all 
so much. 

The rubbings went on, and the boy did feel 
stronger and could sit up quite awhile and read 
aloud to Arthur, who dozed a good deal. He 
didn’t mind a bit now talking about the little old 
house and how they all worked and played and 
embellished the stories they read. “ And Prim- 
rose lengthens them out in such a funny fashion 
and makes them do such queer things, and she 
picks out long, long words that none of us ever 
heard of. She’s a corker at spelling! And when 
cold evenings come and we can’t sit out on the 
stoop, we crack nuts and roast corn and have just 
the nicest times. It’s ’cause there are so many of 
us.” 

“’Yes,” returned the lonely child. 


LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 205 

“ Put the screen up here/' Arthur said to the 
nurse one day, “ and lean over here, so Chan won’t 
hear. I want to tell you a secret.” 

Nurse Jane followed his wishes, and then leaned 
over on the cot, taking the thin hand in hers. It 
was languid with a weak pulse. 

“ Do you really think I am going to — to get 
better? ” in a low, tremulous tone. 

“ Why, the headaches are not so severe.” Oh, 
what else could she say ? 

“ Sometimes I have such queer feelings as if I 
was floating away, and it’s all lovely too, gardens 
and flowers and singing such as Chan does, only 
there are voices and voices and crowds of people 
to love you who seem saying ‘ Come with us, come 
with us.’ And I think the burden would fall off 
my back and I’d be straight and nice. Then I 
almost want to go. But I’d like to see all Chan’s 
brothers and sisters next summer. I don’t care so 
much about going to my own home; it’s so lone- 
some.” 

" Yes,” answered the nurse’s soft voice. 

“ Do you know how to make a will ? ” 

“ Why — yes, I think so,” in surprise. 

“ I’d like to make one. If I shouldn’t go next 
summer — it’s leaving things to people, isn’t 
it?” 


206 THE CHILDREN IN THE 


“ Yes. You write out, or some one does for 
you, just what you want this or that one to have. 

But •” “ You are too young to make a will,” 

she was about to say, then checked herself. 

“ Chan’s been so nice to me. I love him dearly. 
I wish I’d always had such a brother, and I want 
him to have some books. There’s my beautiful 
‘iEsop’s Fables ’ with fine pictures in it, and he has 
only a little worn-out copy. And ‘ Hans Chris- 
tian Andersen,’ and ‘ Water Babies,’ and ‘ Stories 
from Mythology,’ and ‘ Age of Chivalry.’ Will 
you write them all out? And I may think of 
some more. Henry has crowds of books and 
won’t want them. I wish I had some money to 
leave him, but he’s such a nice, happy fellow that 
I think he’ll always see the bright side. And I 
hope he will get well — he surely will, won’t 
he?” 

There was such an eager, pathetic light in the 
eyes that it brought tears to hers. 

“ Oh, yes. He is really all over his accident, 
only the joint wants to get firm and strong.” 

“ And you’ll write out the will ? ” 

“ Yes. Then you must sign it, and I’ll sign it 
for witness.” 

“ Oh, thank you,” and a wan little smile light- 
ened his face. 


LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 207 

When the doctor made his visit he said to Chan : 

“ My boy, we are going to move you upstairs 
to-morrow. You’ll have a lot of new friends, boys 
and girls, and so much to amuse you. Then you 
must walk around and get back the use of your leg 
and you will be well. You’ve been a fine patient 
and we shall really hate to give you up.” 

“ But I don’t want to go,” decisively. 

“ Not out of this ward where every cot is full 
of suffering? Why, Chan! ” 

“ I want to stay here because — oh, can’t Arthur 
be moved, too? Oh, I can’t go and leave him. 
He’s such a lonely little fellow and he has had to 
suffer so much, and he is getting better. Let me 
stay here another week, please do. I like to sing 
for him, and we have such nice talks.” 

“You may stay,” the doctor said, in a low tone. 
And if at the last there came a great agony they 
would take him to a private room, as they not 
infrequently did. But he was touched by Chan’s 
devotion. 

Arthur did seem to have much less pain, though 
he was very weak and sat up only five minutes or 
so at a time; but he was cheerful and enjoyed his 
singing-bird, as he called Chan, so much. He and 
Nurse Jane finished and signed the will. Some one 
sat by him at night, but he slept mostly. 


208 THE CHILDREN IN THE 


This night Jane came on the watch at twelve. 
He was marble white and cool. 

“ I don’t believe he will last until morning,” said 
Mary. “ He’s almost gone now. A blessed release 
it will be. And his father’s junketing around Eu- 
rope with his gay wife. Well, money doesn’t al- 
ways bring love. Poor little fellow ! It will be a 
heavenly change.” 

Jane held his cold little hands in hers, but they 
were never to be warm again. She listened at his 
heart, but could hear only a faint occasional beat. 
Then did it stop without a struggle? The little 
chin quivered downward, the whole frame relaxed. 
She watched awhile, then she wrapped the small 
figure, so wasted with pain, in a blanket, and 
taking it in her arms slipped softly down the broad 
staircase and laid her burden in the apartment set 
aside for such purposes. The attendant rose and 
looked at it gravely. One of the physicians came 
hurrying in. 

“ Poor little chap,” he said pityingly. “ Yet it 
is best so. I didn’t think he would last till this 
time.” 

Chan was bright and enjoyed his breakfast. He 
told Nurse Jane that he could go to the convalescent 
parlor, but that he had begged to stay another 
week with Arthur. 


LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 209 

“ You have made him very happy,” she said. 

“ He must be soundly asleep. I’ve called to him, 
but he doesn’t answer.” 

Presently Chan called again. Then he gave a 
little low whistle. The screen stood between so he 
could not see. But one of the men came and piled 
up the blankets and carried away the cot. 

“ Oh, where have they taken Arthur?” he 
asked. 

“ Downstairs,” was the brief reply. 

The nurse was over opposite and he called to 
her, putting his inquiry in a startled tone. 

She came, and placing her arms about him, hid 
the frightened face on her breast. 

“ Chan, dear, he has gone to rest and to the 
land where there is no more pain and suffering. A 
month ago they thought he couldn’t last but a little 
while and they were almost afraid to put him over 
here, but you were such a pleasure to him, and 
Dr. Richards thought it very sweet of you to ask 
to stay another week. He just fell asleep, without 
any pain, I think, while I sat there holding his 
hands. I hope his own mother will know him in 
heaven.” 

Then she kissed him and went away. Chan cried 
a little, mostly because Arthur’s life seemed so sad. 
That afternoon they took off the brace and stood 


210 THE CHILDREN IN THE 

him on his feet, and he would have toppled over 
but for the nurse’s arms about him. 

“ Why, I feel as if I didn’t have any legs,” with 
a quavering laugh. “ Oh, are you certain sure I’m 
all right ? ” 

“ You’ll have to learn some things over again. 
Now here — put the crutch under your arm and step 
flat on your foot. You will soon get it right.” 

Chan thought he still felt very wabbly. They 
walked him up and down and then put him on 
the elevator and ushered him into the great sunny 
room where children were playing and running 
about in soft felt shoes, sitting in little rocking- 
chairs, building block houses, and making Noah’s 
animals come out of the ark. A group of little 
girls were playing tea. None of them was quite 
sound or well, you could see, but they were very 
happy. 

“ This is Miss Jessie, and this, Miss Ellen. I 
can’t be your nurse any more, for I belong down- 
stairs, but you will find them all very nice, and you 
are to walk as much as you can and go out on the 
balcony every day,” said Nurse Jane. 

“ You’ve been so good. Everybody’s been 
good,” and he kissed the hand that lay on his 
shoulder. 

Miss Ellen came and talked to him, just a sort 


LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 21 1 


of girl with blue eyes and light hair. She asked 
him what had been the matter, and they soon were 
on friendly terms as they kept walking round. 

“ I’m awfully tired,” he said, “ and both my 
legs feel as if they would fall out. Can I sit 
down? ” 

“ Oh, yes. After you have walked two or three 
days they won’t feel so. Now here are two little 
girls making furniture. You may like to look at 
them.” 

“ I have two little sisters at home, twins, and 
they’re past five years old.” 

“ And are you the oldest of the family? ” 

Chan laughed merrily. “ Oh, no, I’m in be- 
tween. There are eight of us.” 

“ Eight children ! What does your mother do 
when they’re sick?” 

“ They never are sick. Oh, yes, the twins had 
the measles, but mother said there wasn’t hardly 
enough to go round. They didn’t mind it a bit. 
And maybe Marigold and Primrose will come to 
see me here. Mother came in the other ward.” 

“ What pretty names ! I shall like to see them. 
Any more sisters ? ” 

“ Amaryllis. But she’s a big girl. She’s a sort 
of mother to us and keeps house when mother goes 
out. She’s quite tall. She’s past fourteen, twice 


212 THE CHILDREN IN THE 

as old as I am. And isn’t it funny that you can 
never be twice as old as anybody but just once ! ” 

“ Why, I had never thought of that,” and she 
smiled. “ Tell me about the boys.” 

By the time he had described them she had a 
very good idea of the family. Eight children, and 
no father to look after them! And they couldn’t 
be very well-to-do, she thought. 

A group of children were struggling over some- 
thing, and Ellen had to go to them. Chan watched 
the little girls. The furniture was stiff paper that 
they folded into chairs and a bureau and a buffet 
and tables, and made a furnished room. Then they 
had dolls that they dressed and undressed even to 
tiny hats. Chan was enchanted. Then they began 
to talk. One little girl had been paralyzed on one 
side, but was getting over it. The other had been 
badly scarred from bums and one cheek still had 
a linen band over it. There was quite a confusion 
of talking and going about and laughing. 

Chan liked the supper-time. There was a long 
table with a bench on each side, and the chilldren 
sat in a row. They had a bowl of bread and milk 
and cereal and a rusk with sugar sprinkled over it. 
The attendants waited on them, washed their hands 
and faces afterward, and then they returned to the 
large room and sat in rows down at one end while 


LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 213 

one of the nurses read them a story. After that 
they sang, but Chan didn’t know the words and 
could only say um, um. Then he was rubbed all 
over and put to bed in a little cot like that down- 
stairs, where he very soon fell asleep. 

The next day he was required to walk every little 
while. The children ran out on the balconies on 
the sunny side and made lots of noise, and in the 
afternoon, best of all, Mr. Mann came. They were 
all well at home, but they wanted him so much. 

“ I didn’t suppose there could be so many sick 
and hurt children in the world,” he said, with a 
sigh. “ And I’m going to be just as good as brand- 
new, the doctor said. I walked a little way without 
the crutch this morning. Oh, won’t it be gay when 
I can go home ! In two weeks ! ” and the child’s 
eyes sparkled with delight. 

“ Then I must bring Goldie and Prim in soon — 
maybe Saturday.” 

“ Oh ! oh ! ” and Chan clapped his hands. “ It’s 
just splendid here ! ” 

That night for a sort of supper dessert, each 
child had half an orange, the sections pulled apart 
and sugar sprinkled over them. 

“ It was your father’s treat, Chandler,” Miss 
Jessie said, with a smile. “ I hope you love him 
very much. He is a splendid father.” 


214 THE CHILDREN IN THE 

“ Oh, he isn’t my own father,” and a flush over- 
spread the lad’s face. “ He — he found us last sum- 
mer and was so good to us, and he planned it for 
me to come here and be mended. My real father 
is dead.” 

“ Mended ! ” and she gave a quaint nod. “ That 
is just it, we do try to mend the mishaps. But 
I think he is more splendid still if he can take such 
an interest in unfortunate children. You ought to 
love him a great deal.” 

“ Oh, I do. We all do,” he returned, with deep 
feeling. 

He kept thinking of it at night. He was not 
a bit sleepy. How w*ould it be to have just such 
a father! He didn’t want one like Arthur’s, who 
could go ’way off and leave his little boy to die 
alone, but to live in that big house and leave the 
beautiful out of doors and the dogs and some one 
to take you around and give you clothes and ever 
so many things you wanted! Why, it would be 
like — like — well, there was nothing to compare it 
with except the fairy stories, and they were not 
true, more was the pity. And it was like a fairy 
story, too, that about the picnic and his coming 
here, and he wondered why Mr. Mann’s wife had 
not had a houseful of children when he liked 
them so. 


LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 215 

And in the midst of this Chan fell asleep with- 
out ever counting the days that must elapse before 
he could go home. There was a sweet smile on his 
face as if joy and gladness were following him in 
the enchanted land of slumber. 


CHAPTER XIII 


WAS IT A CROWN OR A CROSS? 

Marigold and Primrose Firth stood still and 
stared as they entered the room where the con- 
valescents were playing and resting. Chan was 
building a high church with a steeple and had his 
back to the door and his eyes on the little boy who 
was so eager he kept fidgeting about. Then he 
heard a voice. 

“ Oh, Goldie ! Oh, Prim ! ” And he almost 
toppled over in his eagerness. The church did 
quite. 

“ Never mind, Eddy. I’ll build it all over. 
They’re my sisters, and I haven’t seen them in ever 
so long.” 

“ Oh, Chan ! And you don’t limp a bit ! ” Mari- 
gold’s eyes were so full of joy that they over- 
flowed with tears. 

They made a picture hugging each other, and 
Miss Jessie wished she had her camera handy to 
take a snapshot. 


216 


THE LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 217 

“ Oh, yes, and next week Fm coming home. 
Seems to me the awfullest long while, and yet 
everybody’s been so good, doctors and all. You 
know I was so afraid they’d be cross, but ijo one 
was. And I never felt the hurt — they put you in 
the loveliest sleep. Oh, and you ought to see 
Nurse Jane. She puts her arms around you like 
mother, and they all have such soft voices. Maybe 
if I was all alone I’d rather stay here ” 

“ And you’ve grown so white and pretty, Chan. 
It’s just splendid. I could jump up and down for 
joy ! ” cried Prim. “ Oh, how many little children 
are here ! Is there something the matter with them 
all ? Why, it’s enough to break one’s heart. And 
that little girl in the carriage ” 

“ She never can walk, they think — she’s been 
paralyzed, and she’s such a sweet little thing. And 
here’s Miss Ellen.” 

Miss Jessie was very glad to see them, and said 
they had such pretty names. 

“ I didn’t use to like mine at all,” returned 
Marigold. “ My hair is red and they called me 
everything at school, saying, ‘Marigold, you’re a 
scold; you’ll grow sour, cross, and old,’ and I 
don’t scold. I get mad sometimes. It’s lovely here. 
It’s ’most like a kindergarten I read about in one 
of the schoolbooks.” 


21 8 THE CHILDREN IN THE 


“ I’d like to get down on the floor and play/’ 
declared Prim. 

“ Then come over here and build a church for 
Eddy. I was putting on the top of the spire when 
I jumped up and over it went.” 

She followed Chan. Eddy was disconsolately 
studying the ruins and at first had a mind to be 
sulky, but as it went up Prim told him a story 
about a cat who carried her four babies up into 
the church loft, and when the bell began to ring 
she flew at the bell rope but couldn’t stop it, and 
just swung to and fro and caterwauled in a horrid 
manner until some one came and took pussy and 
her kittens downstairs. 

“ What is catter — what you said ? ” asked the 
child, eager-eyed. 

“ Why, it’s a horrid noise they sometimes make. 
They don’t like each other very well. And it’s 
funny, but dogs are very sociable and play with 
each other.” 

“ Tell another story.” Eddy kept his eyes on 
the rising structure, but his ears were wide open. 
Some other children came, and Prim found herself 
in business. She didn’t like to tell the ridiculous 
things with long words that she made use of at 
home, but there was the squirrel that they had 
tamed and who had a nest in a hollow tree that 


LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 219 

had three teeny weeny little squirrels that they 
used to feed, and the hen they had who used to 
peck at the door, her way of asking to come in 
for some bits of bread, and if you didn’t let her 
in she scolded. 

“ There ! ” exclaimed Eddy. “ Now don’t one 

of you touch it. It’s — it’s ” he looked at Prim 

to help him out. 

“ It’s magnificent ! ” Prim had a way of pro- 
nouncing it magnifichent at home. 

“ Oh, I wish I could say that ! ” sighed Eddy. 

“ Come and build me a house.” “ No, me for 
my dolly.” “ And me,” said several voices. 

Then she began to tell them about her little 
sister’s dolly. How it had been run over and never 
was hurt a bit, only so dirty it had to have a new 
face, and how Laurel wandered off one day to 
find Chan, and Dolly got lost and it was three 
days before she was found, and how Tip threw 
her up in a tree, where she hung head downward 
ever so long and it never made her dizzy a bit, 
and how Amaryllis could make her dance just as 
if she were alive. 

Marigold kept close to Mr. Mann and some of 
the nurses, and was very much interested in hear- 
ing what had happened to several of the children. 
Chan came back to them and slipped his hand in 


220 THE CHILDREN IN THE 


Mr. Mann’s, looking up with such a happy face 
that it went to the elder’s heart. 

The hour passed so rapidly that they were sur- 
prised when it was time to go. 

“ When you want to find a position for this little 
girl,” said Miss Jessie, “ send her here and she 
shall be chief entertainer. Out of eight children 
you might spare us one.” 

“ Oh,” sighed Chan, “ I don’t believe we could 
spare Prim. She’s so funny. And she knits such 
nice stockings.” 

They wanted to see the place where Chan had 
lain in his plaster blanket and his bandages and 
braces. 

“ I couldn’t turn over, and I had to be fed, and 
I did get so tired. But it’s all right now,” and he 
nodded triumphantly. 

There was a new boy in the cot, who had been 
bruised and banged by a drunken father. His face 
was strapped and his nose had been broken, as 
well as one arm. No, Chan wouldn’t want that 
kind of a father, and he squeezed Mr. Mann’s 
hand more tightly. 

“ And Arthur was over there at the last. When 
I come home I’ll tell you all about him. He was 
to visit us next summer.” 

Nurse Jane was glad to see the little girls, and 


LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 221 

told them Chan was one of the best patients she 
ever had. 

They let Chan go clear down in the elevator 
and then he had the ride up again. Oh, in six 
days he could go home ! 

“ I wish you’d let me learn those songs you 
sing,” he said to Miss Ellen that evening; “ I like 
to sing.” 

“ Why, yes, I shall be glad to,” and then they 
all found that he had a lovely voice. 

The children wanted to talk about his sister the 
next day, and one little girl asked if she was truly 
a flower. 

Then there were five days, four days, three days. 
Chan could walk just as well as ever. 

“ I want you to be a little careful,” Dr. Rich- 
ards said. “ Don’t jump fences, nor climb trees, 
nor try to beat the boys at stunts until some time 
next year, and when you are sixteen or eighteen 
you come here and we will make a first-class doc- 
tor of you if the music fellow doesn’t come to 
light. They are not always to be depended upon.” 

They were sorry to have Chandler Firth go, but 
now he stood up so straight and strong and had 
a tint of pink in his cheeks that had filled out 
considerably. 

“ You do get so attached to some of them,” 


222 THE CHILDREN IN THE 


Miss Jessie said to Jane. “ I would really like to 
know about that Firth family and the eight chil- 
dren if these three are any sample. And that 
child has an exquisite voice. Some of the churches 
here would make a high bid for him. ,, 

So the last day came, and Chan tried very hard 
to be brave, but he was glad they had asked him 
to come again as a visitor. They went by trolley 
and train, and Dan was at the station with the 
wagon and the robes. Chan could hardly realize 
that cold weather had come. He \yas not going 
to the little old house this night. They would 
not expect him until to-morrow. 

“ Why, you certainly have grown,” exclaimed 
Mrs. Alden, “ and you are looking so well,” pretty, 
too, she wanted to add, but she knew compliments 
were not good for children. 

“ Yes, he’s first-class now. And I hope you’ve 
brought a good appetite.” 

But there were so many things he wanted to 
tell Mrs. Alden about the wonderful Children’s 
Hospital that they sat a long while over the table. 
When they went through to the library there was 
a fascinating log-fire on some andirons and beau- 
tiful blue and red and yellow blazes chasing each 
other all around. 

Mr. Mann rolled the sofa up nearer. 


LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 223 

“ Come here, Chan,” he began. “ I want to talk 
to you.” 

He placed his arm about the boy and drew him 
up close, so his head just fitted in the place between 
breast and shoulder. He gave him two or three 
little squeezes that made the child laugh. 

“ Chan, I want you to be my boy.” 

“Yes, I’ll always be your boy. I love you 
dearly, better than Dr. Richards, better than any- 
body.” 

Yet there was one body he loved better, Mr. 
Mann knew. 

“ Yes, I want you for my boy. There are so 
many of you at home that your mother can spare 
one — or two, even. I want you to live here, I want 
to send you to a nice school and educate you, keep 
you well clothed, and have you taught music and 
you’ll learn to play on the piano. And you shall 
have a nice room and books and a pony and a little 
pony carriage that will just hold two, and — oh, 
I can’t think of all the things now. You’ll 
come? ” 

“ Do you mean” — Chan drew a long breath that 
almost strangled him — “ do you mean that I 
should stay here always — not go home to live, 
not ” 


Oh, you would go over there often — every day 


224 THE CHILDREN IN THE 

if you wanted to — and you could take the girls 
out — they could come over here. But I’d be your 
father. Chan, I love you dearly. I’ve always 
wanted a little boy of my own.” 

“But — but — mother,” and the tremble of tears 
was in his voice. 

A pang went to the man’s heart. No, Chan 
wouldn’t be half the boy he was if he didn’t care 
for his mother — “ the beautifullest mother.” Oh, 
how could he get round that ! 

“ See here, Chan, I’d like to have a little girl, 
too. One alone is lonesome. We’ll have either 
Goldie or Prim, and I’ll do the same by her. 
You’ll have such nice times. And, Chan, six will 
be as much as your mother can take care of. Chil- 
dren cost more as they grow older. Oh, I know 
your mother will consent when we tell her all, and 
I know you are brave enough to help ease up her 
lot a little. It isn’t as if I were going to take you 
hundreds of miles away. You will be near them 
all the time.” 

Chan crept up and put his arms around the 
man’s neck. “ I love you very much,” he said, 
in a rather tremulous tone, “ and I know I might 
have been lame for life but for your goodness. 
But — mother ought to know ” 

“ Yes, laddie, I wouldn’t urge you without her 


LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 225 

consent. But often V m lonesome in this big house 
and you will be so crowded in yours presently, and 
with my money I ought to be doing some good and 
making some one happy, helping some one along 
who is having a hard time. You are a brave little 
fellow, Chan, and I know you will want to help 
your mother. Now we will talk about other things. 
I shall always be your friend.” 

The other things were the happenings at the 
hospital and the episode of Arthur. And presently 
he thought the boy ought to go to bed. 

After that Mr. Mann took out his memorandum 
and selected a letter. Dr. Richards had spoken of 
the man, a musical director and composer, who 
had attained considerable reputation. In the letter 
he briefly explained his visit to the institution and 
what he considered the child’s wonderful im- 
provisation, as well as his voice. He had to leave 
for Chicago and then was summoned to San Fran- 
cisco, and it was quite possible he might go to 
London. Would Mr. Mann, who seemed to be the 
boy’s protector, keep oversight of him until his, 
Mr. Gwynne’s, return, when he thought he might 
be able to do a good deal for his advancement ? A 
voice like that ought not be allowed to sink into 
obscurity. 

So here was some one else who stood ready 


226 THE CHILDREN IN THE 


perhaps to take the boy he had come to love so 
well. He could feel the little arms about his neck. 
He must have something to fill the longing for 
the children he had hoped to have, and now he 
could indulge in it. These children were so bright, 
so upright and honest, their lives had been so 
simple. What a pleasure such a son would be, 
growing up to manhood! And a daughter! Oh, 
he must not let his opportunity slip into other 
hands. 

Chan was very affectionate the next morning, 
but rather quiet. Mr. Mann sent him over with 
the factotum, Dan. He was not quite in the mood 
to see the mother’s joy. “ I’ll be over in the after- 
noon,” he said, with his cheerful smile that com- 
forted the boy’s heart. 

“ It’s wonderful to see you so well and spry,” 
said Dan. “ And they say there’s a lot of children 
sent there that they do wonders with.” 

Chan could be eloquent on that point. But how 
cold it seemed and how everything had changed. 
The fields were dry and brown, the trees bare, all 
except some oaks still flaunting their brown red 
leaves, and the red berries of the bittersweet show- 
ing yellow inside where they had burst open. They 
turned into the lane — oh, there was the little old 
house more faded and weather-beaten, the garden 


LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 227 

with its debris sheltering the turnip bed, the corn 
shocks where the hens were eagerly foraging. 

Prim ran out for something and gave a glad 
cry, and the next instant they were all there, Chan 
clasped to his mother’s heart. One would almost 
think he had been raised from the dead by the 
joy. 

Well — the house was poor and mean after the 
large tidy rooms. It struck a sort of chill to the 
boy’s heart. The smell of some ham boiling on 
the stove was in the air, the room had not been 
swept yet, Amaryllis was molding up the bread, 
Mrs. Firth had been finishing some trousers for 
Tip and the pieces were strewn around. 

“Which leg was it?” asked Tip, first hugging 
one, then the other. 

“ Oh, you’ll never be able to tell,” Chan laughed. 
“ Why, you all seem to be grown and changed, and 
the twins are no longer babies.” 

“ I tin talk twite plain,” announced Laurel, hold- 
ing her head very high. “ An’ dolly’s made over 
new, went to hospital.” 

“ Prim, find an empty chair. We’re all up in 
heaps and piles. We didn’t expect you until after- 
noon, then we’d ’a’ been in apple-pie order,” said 
his mother. 

“ I’m going to sit on this stool by you. Oh, 


228 THE CHILDREN IN THE 

mother, you can’t think how glad I am,” and he 
hugged her arm. 

“ And you can walk with the best of them,” 
Goldie said, her eyes glowing with pride. 

“ Oh, wasn’t it just too splendid! ” cried Prim. 
“ I’ve tried to tell mother everything, but I’m al- 
ways remembering something new. All those little 
children playing about. Miss Rush was reading 
a kindergarten story yesterday and it was like 
that, only no one was sick. How can they get 
them so well ? ” 

“ There was a room full of sick ones, and don’t 
you remember downstairs in my old ward they 
were in their cots? And mother,” laughing, “ Dr. 
Richards said he was going to make a doctor out 
of me. Goldie, I think I’d rather have the flower- 
garden, wouldn’t you ? ” 

“ Well — that was beautiful. I didn’t suppose 
broken limbs and things could be so — well — so 
nice.” 

“ Marigold, do finish making the beds and tidy- 
ing up the chambers. I do want to get this work 
done.” 

“ And, Prim,” said Rilla, “ do peel some apples, 
and I’ll make a pie to celebrate Chan’s return.” 

“ A pie ! Oh goody ! I haven’t had a mouthful 
since I went away.” 


LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 229 

“ But you had enough to eat?” inquired his 
mother anxiously. 

“Oh, lots of nice things! And such broths — 
you could drink them. They weren’t one kind 
of soup with everything in them. And when you 
were better such delicious little chops and ever 
so many little dainties and napkins and trays.” 

“ Did it hurt you very much? ” asked Tip. 

“ I suppose the trays and napkins did,” ap- 
pended Prim solemnly. 

“ I didn’t mean them things — his leg,” returned 
Tip, rather crossly. “ Granny Keen thought they 
cut it off.” 

“ She said maybe they might,” corrected Rilla. 

“ They had to cut off some little boys’ legs, 
though, that were all mashed up. No, they only 
pulled mine and pushed it and then put me in 
plaster, and I had to lie on my back and be fed 
like a baby.” 

“ What did the plaster do ? ” 

Tip looked up about the ceiling. 

“ Held me together tight so that I couldn’t get 
out of place. And now one hip is just like the 
other. Why, where’s Linn?” 

“ He’s gone down to the store to-day. Mr. Beers 
is going to give him a quarter. Sammy Lowndes 
has gone to the paper mill.” 


2 3 o THE CHILDREN IN THE 

It was odd, but a quarter didn’t seem much to 
Chan. 

Marigold finished the bedrooms and opened the 
doors. It had been very hot and now it suddenly 
cooled. Chan rose up and looked. Yes, there 
was his little cot with its faded patchwork quilt, 
and the other bed. It didn’t look like the nice 
room over at Mr. Mann’s, nor the exquisite order 
at the hospital, and for an instant Chan seemed 
to shrink in every sensitive nerve. 

“ Mother, can’t you take your work into the bed- 
room and let me clear up? There’d be just time 
before dinner, and then we’ll look like white 
folks.” N 

“ Can I do anything, Goldie ? ” the boy asked. 

“ Help me shake these breadths of carpet. You 
and Prim catch hold of one end. But my ! You’ve 
got those nice clothes on ” 

“ Never mind the clothes.” 

They took up the breadths of rag carpet and 
gave them a good shaking out of doors. Marigold 
swept that part of the room and they laid them 
down again. Then she and Prim dusted. The 
kitchen end would be scrubbed by and by. The 
place was freshened up, and Mrs. Firth announced 
that the trousers were done. Tip hopped around 
in delight. 


LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 231 

After all, the dinner tasted good. The ham was 
boiled tender, the potatoes and turnips were 
mashed together, there were some spiced pickles, 
and the apple pie, nice and thick and good big 
pieces. The dishes were a rather odd lot, and only 
cheap ones in the beginning. Over at Grafton they 
had beautiful china, of wild rose pattern, and silver 
knives and forks. But they were very merry and 
happy. Then Rilla and Prim did the dishes and 
Marigold scrubbed the floor. After that the chil- 
dren, Tip and the twins were given a nice bath 
and put in clean clothes. 

“ Chan,” said his mother, “ I want to go over 
to Mrs. Burnham’s. I’d like you to go with me. 
They are counting on seeing you. They’ve been 
so interested all the time.” 

“ Yes, I’ll be glad to go. Oh, won’t they be 
surprised ! ” 

And surprised they were, sure enough. Mr. 
Burnham turned him about, looked him all over, 
and Chan couldn’t help being glad he had such a 
nice new suit for the inspection. Mrs. Burnham 
wanted to hear how they did it, if the nurses were 
nice to him, and if he had plenty to eat, and Chan 
described the wards and the delightful playroom, 
and said there was an operating room, and an- 
other for the very bad cases that suffered dread- 


232 THE CHILDREN IN THE 

fully and cried. The plaster cast pinched him a 
good deal and he couldn’t stir nor turn over, but 
Nurse Jane was like his mother. 

“ Well, you have a great deal to be thankful 
for, and those children’s hospitals are among the 
best of good works. There is so much done for 
sick and injured people, and a good deal of real 
missionary work. I sometimes feel as if I would 
like to have a hand in it,” said the minister. 

Katy edged up to him and made friends. She 
wasn’t nearly as rosy as Prim, though the house 
was ever so much nicer. What did the little girls 
play? Had they dolls and dishes, and did they 
visit each other and have little teas? 

Chan was quite eloquent about them. But the 
dark came early now, and Mrs. Firth said they 
must go. 

Chan wondered now and then how he would 
get his mother told of Mr. Mann’s proffer. Some 
of the children were always around — it was too 
cold to be playing out-of-doors — and he was a little 
afraid of Mr. Mann’s earnestness if he should be 
first in the field. 

“ Mother dear ” there was a desperate sound 

in his voice. 

His arm was around her waist under the good 
warm shawl that had come in her “ fortune.” 


LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 233 

“ Well, Chan,” seeing that he stopped there. 

“ I have something that I want to tell you before 
— before ” 

“ Oh, Chan, nothing bad, I hope,” for there was 
a touch of solemnity in the boy’s tone. 

“ I suppose we ought to think it good, but ” 

“ Well? ” in a tone of tender encouragement. 

“ It’s this.” His arm hugged her more closely, 
and his voice had a great tremble in it. “ Mr. 
Mann wants to take me for his little boy to live 
with him, to go to school, to have a pony and 
everything nice ” 

“ Oh, Chan, that is splendid and wonderful ! ” 
Her voice rose with joy in every word. “ After 
all that generous time at the hospital! He must 
care a great deal about you.” 

Oh, he wanted her to say offhand in the ear- 
nestness of a child’s heart : “ Oh, I couldn’t spare 
you, I couldn’t give you away.” 

“He loves me, yes, he does. Oh, mother, you 
couldn’t give me away ! ” 

“ Why, I can’t tell all in a minute. It seems so 
strange — so ” 

“ I’d have to live there. Of course I could come 
over and see you, but it couldn’t be the same. 
Some nights at the hospital I cried a teeny little 
bit to the pillow, I wanted my mother so.” 


234 THE CHILDREN IN THE 

She stooped and kissed the cold little face and 
gave him a hug, deeply touched. 

“ Dear, you’d have the love all the same. We 
shouldn’t forget. I know Mr. Mann wouldn’t want 
you to. There is a great deal to be said about it 
when you look at all the sides. The education! 
I couldn’t do anything like that. And the nice 
clothes, the nice friends you’d grow up with. Oh, 
Chan! It would be a beautiful life! And with 
me you would have to go to work presently. And 
you would all get too big for the little house. Oh, 
we’ll talk it over and over. It’s so surprising, so 
unexpected ! ” 

“ But, mother, just suppose by and by I should 
get to like the nice house and the pony and every- 
thing better than — like the boy in Linn’s Christ- 
mas book ” 

“ Oh, Chan, I don’t think you could. But you 
see, by and by you would all go away. Oh, we’ll 
save it to think over. But it’s splendid in Mr. 
Mann! It almost makes one cry for joy to find 
such generous people in the world.” 

They caught sight of the light in the window. 
Mrs. Firth kissed her little son again and found 
some tears on his cheek. Then they opened the 
door in the warmth and light, and Chan thought 
it looked beautiful, so different from the morning, 


LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 235 

for it was clean and tidy. The twins were playing 
“ going visiting ” in one corner. They had a bench 
with a white cloth and some broken bits of china. 
They always had next week’s frock and white 
aprons put on Saturday afternoons. Marigold 
was darning the last of the stockings, her curly 
mop brushed until it fairly glistened. Prim, in 
a gay plaid frock and white apron also, her hair 
in two pigtails, was laying the table, while Rilla 
was attending to some hominy she was boiling. 
And there was a great plate of gingerbread that 
gave out a savory fragrance. Tip was bright and 
clean also, and sat on the floor building a great 
tower of corncobs. 

Chan thought he didn’t want anything better 
than the dear old house. 

“ What did the minister and Mrs. Burnham say, 
and oh, weren’t they surprised? ” All the children 
seemed to talk at once. Tip jumped up and hugged 
Chan, and Prim said : 

“ Oh, Chan, you look awful pretty in those 
clothes, just like a little gentleman.” 

His mother couldn’t have bought anything like 
them. Linn’s and Tip’s suits were made of old 
Aunt Hitty’s cast-offs. 

“ Get a little warm and then let us have supper,” 
said Amaryllis. 


236 THE CHILDREN IN THE 

So they sat down a merry crew, for there always 
was something funny to talk over or some conun- 
drum to spring. How the bowls of hominy and 
milk and slices of bread disappeared! And such 
generous pieces of cake that many children would 
have disdained. 

The door burst open with a rush. 

“ Hurray ! Hurray ! ” cried the merry new- 
comer, with cheeks of roses. He threw down his 
cap on a chair and hung up his coat on the floor, 
Prim used to say. “ And you can’t guess in a 
month of Sundays ! ” 

Then Linn pirouetted round the sitting-room 
end of the place and rattled his fingers like 
castanets. 

“Give it up,” exclaimed Marigold. 

“ Another fortune,” cried Prim. “ Perhaps a 
barrel of flour. Ours is ’most out.” 

“ And there’s a chunk of cheese Mr. Beers gave 
me. And it’s a straight up and down business 
offer, all on account of my superior abilities ! Oh, 
say, can’t I have that piece of gingerbread ? ” 

“ Linn, what is the matter ? ” asked his mother. 
“ Or have you gone crazy? ” 

“ That is the prismatic radiance of an illimitable 
series of myoplasms, and I’ve forgotten what they 
are.” He tumbled his cap on the floor, brought 


LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 237 

up a chair, pushed Tip a little aside, and sat down 
by his mother. 

“ No, you sha’n’t! ” protested Tip. 

“ But Fve done it and I am the biggest. Some 
day I’ll be the boss of the family, do you hear 
that, my illustrious compeer? Oh, have a piece 
of cheese all round, for it was a present. And 
that reminds me — no, I’ll tell my story first. Then 
I’ve one for Chan. Fve had a business offer, as I 
said ” 

“ You may get to it by Monday morning,” 
laughed Prim. 

“It’s a situation in Mr. Beers's store and real 
money wages." 

“ Oh, Linn ! ” exclaimed his mother, bending 
over to kiss him. 

“ Yes. Mr. Beers likes me a good deal," though 
Linn blushed in the confession. “ I can figure 
first-rate and Sammy did get things in a muddle. 
So he said if I’d come in the store and do my 
best he’d give me three dollars a week, though he 
thought it would be too far to walk night and 
morning and in stormy weather, so I could come 
down Monday morning and stay until Saturday 
night, and he’d give me a dollar seventy-five, then, 
and take the rest for board. And that would be 
seven fifty a month — well, a little over. Just as 


238 THE CHILDREN IN THE 

soon as it came pleasant — say April — I'd come 
home, and that would be twelve dollars a month. 
Just think of it! ” 

“ Whatever will you do with so much money? ” 
asked Marigold. 

“ Put it in the bank,” subjoined Prim. 

“ Get the new barrel of flour,” said Rilla. 

“ Oh, Linn, that’s wonderful ! ” said his mother. 
“ The Lord is sending us something all the time. 
You know I didn’t want to go to the funeral one 
bit, and my old bonnet was so out of date. And 
I didn’t think much of the old things, but see how 
useful they’ve been. And there was the five dol- 
lars, and Chan’s getting well, and my new coat 
and hat, and now this! Why, it is just like a 
fairy story ! ” 

“ Well, mommy, don’t cry ! ” and Linn kissed 
her. “ We’ll just have a glorification. And if the 
fairies or the brownies want to do anything more 
for us just let them send it along. Oh, yes, it isn’t 
done coming. Chan, there is a beautiful clean box 
at the store for you, none of the old second-hand 
grocery boxes of starch or cereal or soap or X-ray 
stove polish. Came in the train this afternoon, but 
no one was coming up this way, and it was too big 
for me to shoulder. You’ll get it on Monday. It’s 
from some place in New York State.” 


LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 239 

“ A box for me ! ” ejaculated Chan, in surprise. 
“ Not from the city, is it? For of course any- 
thing from Mr. Mann wouldn’t come that 
way.” 

“ Took two expresses to bring it, at that. I’m 
’most sorry I spoke of it, for now we’ll be won- 
dering all the time.” 

“ It’s very queer,” continued Chan reflectively. 
It was not from the hospital, and if Dr. Richards 
had remembered him out of all the little patients, 
many worse off than he, that would have gone 
to Mr. Mann. “ Oh, to wait until Monday ! ” 

The table was cleared away and they all retired 
to the sitting-room part. Chan and Tip brought 
benches on each side of their mother and laid their 
heads in her lap. The twins went to bed. Amaryl- 
lis dropped down on the sofa, she was always tired 
out when Saturday night came. Prim was knitting 
a mitten. Marigold, deep in a book, thought they 
could all talk about Linn’s going to business, but 
his mother considered him too young to give up 
school. 

“ I’ll take some books down and study a bit 
about the things I want. There’s a good deal I 
don’t care for and isn’t going to help me a bit. 
I can’t draw worth a cent, so why should I hammer 
away at that, and as for language, as they call it, 


2 4 o THE LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 

I can’t make out beginning or end. I’ll learn more 
in the store.” 

“ I’ll surely have to stay home,” thought Chan. 
“ There will be wood to split and the chickens to 
look after and snow to clean. Oh, no, I couldn’t be 
spared.” 


CHAPTER XIV 


chan’s legacy 

Sunday was fine and not very cold. All the six 
children started for Sunday-school. The twins, 
as usual, sat in a corner and played. Mrs. Firth 
was reading through the Bible, but she found very 
little time even on Sunday, and she was wonder- 
ing somewhat; but she need not have done so, for 
she heard the trot of Bonnie and went to the door. 
There was Mr. Mann, fresh, rosy, and smiling. 

“ I’ll tie her here out of the wind and she’ll get 
the sunset. I’ll blanket her well, too. Pity you 
hadn’t a little barn.” 

“ We never had a horse, so the shed answers 
every purpose but that ” 

“ And I hope you are all well. The boy was 
glad enough to get back to you, I suppose. He’s 
been a brave and lovely little chap through it all, 
and I’m so glad he could be thoroughly mended, 
as he calls it.” 

Then he came in. The twins were too much 
engrossed to remark his advent, so he seated him- 
self in a familiar fashion. 


241 


242 THE CHILDREN IN THE 

“ It is all owing to you ” — and her voice had 
an exquisite little falter in it. It was always sweet 
and had no rasping notes in it. He thought she 
could never have scolded much, which was true 
enough. 

“ Yes, they were all wild with joy,” she went 
on. He never seemed to care about being thanked, 
but one must be grateful. “ And he has really 
grown in this little while. They were so proud 
to take him to Sunday-school.” 

“ It would be worth seeing,” with an approving 
nod. 

She knew he had come to talk about taking 
Chan, but she was not quite ready. Of course he 
must go. They could not be so ungrateful. 

“ Something has happened that I’d like to ask 
your advice about,” she began. “ It is Linn this 
time. You know the old store down by the sta- 
tion, Mr. Beers’s? It is the only store in Denby, 
and he would like Linn as a sort of clerk. It 
wouldn’t be hard” — with a vague smile. “ He 
wants to go.” 

“ And Linn is how old ? ” 

“ He will be thirteen pretty soon.” 

“ That’s rather young to start in business. He 
ought to have more schooling. What sort of a 
scholar is he? ” 


LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 243 

“ He doesn’t seem to like school as well this 
fall. They set him about tasks that he doesn’t take 
real interest in. He’s good at figures, but he dis- 
likes those queer puzzle things they give out. He 
likes history and geography, especially that part 
about what is raised in different countries and 
bought and sold. And I’ve taught them all to 
spell. Tip’s the worst, but he’s such a little fellow. 
Studies are so different from what they were 
when I taught. But it seems to me poor people 
ought to learn what will fit them for the life they 
have to lead.” 

“ Right you are ; but education is a great ad- 
vantage nowadays when we are finding out won- 
derful things about the world we live in. I never 
had much schooling as a boy, and when I went into 
the factory I found there were lots of things that 
would advance me, and I went at them tooth and 
nail, as the saying is. It was hard work. Now 
there are splendid evening schools and libraries, 
though they haven’t spread so much about the 
country places, and Denby is way behind the times. 
But Linn wants to go, you say ? ” 

“ Yes — he is kind of tired of school, and he will 
have to go to some kind of business soon — there 
are so many of them. But I would like him to 
have more schooling,” and she sighed. 


244 THE CHILDREN IN THE 

Eight little ones to care for and educate. How 
was she going to do it ? 

“ He thinks he can study down there at the 
store. You know there isn’t very much business, 
especially in the winter. And he can drive quite 
well. But I didn’t feel that I wanted to turn any 
of them out quite so young. He was at Squire 
Briggs’s most of the summer, but that was a good 
deal waiting on Mrs. Briggs.” 

“ But the long walk back and forth ” 

Mrs. Firth explained how that would be obvi- 
ated. “ And he can come home early on Saturday, 
so we can have him all day Sunday.” 

Mr. Mann considered. If he had not known 
about the straits and pinches of poverty, the mak- 
ing one dollar do the work of two or three, he 
could not have understood the case so well. 

“ You see, in the cities now there is a law 
against children’s going into any employment until 
they are fourteen. I don’t know that it obtains 
around here. That’s plenty soon enough, but in 
this case, well, you might let him go for a while. 
He may get tired of it and go back to school of 
his own accord. There are always a lot of old 
codgers sitting around a country store whose con- 
versation isn’t very improving. But you’ll keep 
watch over him, and a bright, cheerful home influ- 


LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 245 

ence counteracts other mischief. Yes, I think you 
might let him go.” 

“ I’m thankful for your interest,” she returned, 
in a grateful tone. 

“ There’s something else I came t<p talk about,” 
he said presently. 

Oh, that was Chan. She braced herself. 

“ I want to give a party,” he began, “ a real jolly 
Thanksgiving party. I never had one in my life. 
You see, my wife didn’t like the trouble, and then 
I don’t knovtf that we had any friends to ask,” 
with a ghost of a laugh. “ But now I have a nice 
big house and can spend money with a clear con- 
science, and it seems to me I ought to do some- 
thing besides pamper myself.” 

“ Oh, you do, you do! ” she interrupted. “ You 
are always — you have been so good to us, and we 
had no claim and could do nothing in return.” 

Was she quite sure? She could give him Chan! 

“ Well, I’ve come to ask you to do something. 
I dare say you’d have some kind of a merry 
Thanksgiving at home, but I want you all to come 
over and make merry with me. It wouldn’t be 
much fun for me to sit alone and carve a fine 
turkey and eat what I wanted. There’d be such a 
lot of it left, and this is the season when good 
cheer should be going round the world.” 


246 THE CHILDREN IN THE 

She looked up at him with such startled eyes he 
had a mind to laugh. 

“ What? Not all of us!” 

“Well, we might leave out Amaryllis. She 
gets left out of a good many things, I fancy, and I 
shouldn’t like it at all. Yes, all of you. That 
would be only nine, and I’m asked out to a business 
men’s dinner where there are to be twenty-five 
plates. They’ll tell some sharp stories and some 
broad stories, and a number of them will drink 
themselves silly and coarse, which I can’t abide. 
And I won’t have half that number.” 

“ But think of the work for your housekeeper, 
and you’re not used to such a crowd of chil- 
dren.” 

“ Well, I’d like to get used to them. I’m tired 
of living so much alone. What is all the prosperity 
good for if you can’t share it? Mrs. Alden is 
willing. Dan is going to get a woman to come and 
cook on Wednesday and clear up on Thursday. 
I’ll send over in the morning. I see there’s a big 
sleigh in the carriage-house, and I’ve been dicker- 
ing for another horse to match Bonnie; she’s a 
beauty, too. So I’ll have a big turnout. I want 
to enjoy the things I’ve never had before, now that 
they’ve come in my way. Oh, you can’t say ‘ no ’ 
to me ! ” 


LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 247 

He laughed softly, yet with a delicious sort of 
merriment that altogether disarmed her. 

“ I don’t know what to say ” — and she flushed 
scarlet. How pretty and girlish she looked. 

“ There’s only one thing to say, that you will all 
come. It will be my house-warming. Somehow 
I haven’t neighbored much at Grafton. They 
seem — well, they are the old settlers and have card 
clubs, and I don’t play. The men have a nice 
bowling club, and if I thought I was not too old 
I’d join that.” 

“ Old ! ” she re-echoed with a soft laugh and, 
he thought, a sound of resentment. 

“ Well, I suppose five-and-forty isn’t the ex- 
treme limit. I haven’t needed glasses yet and I 
am not getting bald, and I think I’m not too old 
to have some good times. But I had better be quick 
about them. Oh, there come the children! We’ll 
see how many of them will decline.” 

Prim sprang forward and caught both hands. 
Tip, with a push, gained possession of one, and 
they all settled around him. Even the twins came 
out of the corner, and Laurel said, “ Me, too,” 
looking eagerly about. 

When there was a moment of quiet he gave his 
invitation. The children looked at their mother 
in a silence that was positively funny. 


248 THE CHILDREN IN THE 

“ See here/’ he began, in a tone of assumed 
surprise. “ Your mother’s coming to my 
Thanksgiving dinner, and if you don’t want 


“ Oh, we do ! we do ! ” cried the chorus of voices. 
“ Mommy, you wouldn’t go without us? ” 

“ Then it is a settled thing. Thursday morning 
I shall send over for you, and if one dare to stay 
at home he or she will be crossed off my books. 
I won’t even send him a turkey’s leg. Linn, I 
hear you aspire to business. Be sure to come home 

Wednesday night. Chan, little lad ” and he 

gave the boy a fond squeeze. 

“ Yes,” returned Linn, with a boy’s pride. “ I’m 
going with Mr. Beers.” 

“ Keep up to the straight mark. Now I must 
go, for Bonnie has stood long enough in the cold. 
I think it will snow in a day or two, so we’ll have 
some sleigh-riding.” 

“ Oh, goody ! goody ! ” cried Prim. “ And rid- 
ing down hill ! ” 

They all went out to see him off, and Marigold 
brought a lump of sugar for Bonnie, who fairly 
laughed out of her large dark eyes. 

“ Children,” their mother said gravely, when 
they were all back again, “ I want you to be very 
careful and not say a word at school about our 


LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 249 

going. I’m quite sure Mr. Mann would not like it. 
See how well you can keep a secret.” 

They promised over and over again. 

“ Did he talk about — about me ? ” inquired Chan 
later on, with a little quiver in his lip. 

“ No, dear. I think he means us to consider 
well — there isn’t any real hurry.” 

“ But, you see, you’d want me if Linn was in 
the store, and I’m so strong now I can help a good 
deal. He mustn’t do everything for me.” 

Mrs. Firth was up quite early. It had just begun 
to snow. Rilla took breakfast with them. 

“ Don’t let Tip go to school to-day,” the mother 
said. “ The wind is east, and I think it will be a 
bitter storm.” 

“ Oh, mother, must you go? ” asked the girl pro- 
testingly. 

“ Yes, dear. I have just to-day and to-morrow 
out, and that means only two dollars this week. 
Keep things straight and don’t let the twins run 
out in the cold.” 

The mother and son walked off together, as Linn 
had to pass Mrs. Boyer’s house. The snow was 
fine and cutting. They said a tender good-by, and 
the boy went on steadily, feeling glad and proud 
to be of some assistance. 

By degrees the children were dressed and had 


250 THE CHILDREN IN THE 

their breakfast. Tip consented readily to staying 
at home, he was not as eager for school as either 
of the girls, and Chan had not started yet. The 
chickens were fed, the snow swept away from 
around the door. Chan was impatient for his box 
and tried to while away the time by various ex- 
pedients. 

School was dismissed after the first session. 
Some one hailed the girls, though they could hardly 
see through the blinding snow. 

“ Jump in,” called out Farmer Bird. “ Your 
mother must have been crazy to let you out in such 
a storm. I’m going right past your house with a 
box. Now 'f 'twas Christmas this might be a 
Santa Claus box.” 

“ Oh, it’s for Chan ! ” cried Marigold, delighted. 
“ Linn told us about it. Thank you over and over 
again for the ride.” 

“ We'll have the snow of the season. You'll see. 
To-morrow morning it will be over the tops of 
the houses.” 

“ Over the tops,” repeated Marigold. “ Who'll 
dig us out?” Then she bethought herself and 
echoed the farmer's hearty laugh. 

Chan saw the wagon stop and ran out. The 
girls jumped down, Prim with the joyful cry, “ Oh, 
your box has come.” 


LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 251 

“ I’ll have to lift it out, seein’ it’s ruther heavy 
for a little chap of your size. Beats all how well 
and spry you’ve grown. Full of gold, I dare 
say ! ” with another loud laugh. 

He carried it in, and told them they were wel- 
come to anything he could do and went on his 
way. 

There it was, a fresh, nice box, directed to 
“ Master Chandler Firth,” express paid. Amaryl- 
lis worked carefully so as not to break the cover. 
On the top there lay a letter with the same super- 
scription. 

“ Oh, it’s books,” said Chan. “ You unpack 
them while I read the letter.” 

“To my son Arthur’s little friend. Chandler 
Firth,” he began. 

“ And here’s something else. Why, it’s — 
it’s ” 

“ It’s a will,” said Marigold; “ but read the 
letter.” 

“ When I went to the hospital on my return 
and saw the nurse who had so kindly cared for 
my little boy and who told me how happy you 
had made his last sad days, she gave me this little 
will she had written out for him that afforded him 
great satisfaction. When we went away the doc- 
tor gave us no hope of his recovery, but thought 
he might last the year out. We knew he would 


252 THE CHILDREN IN THE 

be better cared for at the Institution than left in 
charge of a nurse at home, so we sent him there. 
Everything was done for him, I am sure, and I 
thought the nurse a most kind and tender person. 
We brought the little body home and buried it 
beside his mother. I cannot express all the grati- 
tude I feel that you should have given him so much 
pleasure and relieved hours of suffering. I send to 
you the books he wished, and have added others 
of his to them and two pictures that he always 
admired so much, the Madonna and the Saint 
Christopher. And I wish you to accept from me 
a little watch that was sent to Arthur when he 
was nine years old, as a token of regard from 
me, and my sincere appreciation. The nurse told 
me a great deal about you, and I am thankful you 
recovered so thoroughly. If in the years to come 
I should be able to do anything for you, in a busi- 
ness way, you have only to send this card to me 
and I shall be glad to return the kindness. Most 
sincerely yours, 

“ Arthur Jarvis Collamore.” 

Chan had to stop several times and cry a little. 
Now he handed it over to Amaryllis. 

“ And I thought I shouldn’t like Arthur’s father 
a bit. It seemed so dreadful for him and the step- 
mother to go off traveling and leave him to die 
alone. But everything was so nice there and the 
nurses were so good, I do suppose it was better. 
It’s such a lovely letter. Read it, Rilla. And oh, 
look at the books ! ” 


LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 253 

They were beautifully bound, and in those men- 
tioned in the little will Mr. Collamore had written 
Chandler's name just under his son’s. There were 
two very fine books of engravings, indeed the be- 
ginning of a truly valuable boy’s library. The pic- 
tures were securely packed, and were exquisite 
photogravures. 

“But I wonder who St. Christopher was? ” and 
Chan looked at Rilla as if she must know every- 
thing. 

“ There’s a book in the Sunday-school library 
about him, I believe,” returned Amaryllis thought- 
fully. “ I’ll see if I can find it.” 

“ Oh, Lai dear, don’t touch my pretty books ; 
you’ll muss them,” and Chan took it out of his 
sister’s hands, who cried, of course. 

“ You’ll have to put them away, dear,” said 
Rilla, in a soft tone, “ and keep them in the box. 
They’ll be so nice for you when you are older. 
And sometime you may have a pretty room and 
a bookcase. Perhaps something nice may happen 
to us when we are grown up and can earn some 
money.” 

Chan thought of the delightful room awaiting 
him, where he could have the bookcase and a pretty 
willow easy-chair and ever so many things, and a 
charming home with a real father — yes, Mr. Mann 


254 THE CHILDREN IN THE 

would be that. The boy swallowed over a big 
lump in his throat. 

Rilla dropped down on the floor and helped him 
put them back in their paper wrappings. 

“ Why, see here, Chan,” and her face was alight 
with sudden joy, “ when you are old enough to 
go to some nice business, this Mr. Collamore may 
find a place to put you in, a bank, maybe. You’ll 
be nice-looking and you must study most of the 
high-up things. Oh, wouldn’t it be wonderful, like 
some of the boys we read about in stories ! ” 

Laurel was heartbroken because she couldn’t 
have the “ pitty books,” but Prim caught her up 
and began to tell her a story. 

“ I wish we’d told mother to stay all night,” 
Rilla said. “ We wouldn’t have been afraid with- 
out her and Linn. Chan, you go and feed the 
chickens, and Marigold might go and help you 
sweep snow.” 

Marigold liked nothing better. Suddenly it 
stopped snowing and there came a streak of yellow 
light in the west. Oh, how beautiful the world 
looked. Rilla put on a great saucepan of potatoes, 
and made a spiced johnny-cake. Fred Boyer 
brought her mother home on his big sled, though 
they had quite insisted she should remain all night. 

The simple supper tasted very good to the hun- 


LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 255 

gry crowd, though Chan was much too full of 
emotion to do it justice. The story had to be told 
over, but the letter she must read herself. 

“ Chan dear,” she said, with grave tenderness, 
“ some of the things that seem very little in the 
doing bring one a sweet reward ; the sweeter when 
you don’t expect any. It’s splendid to have such 
a lot of books, and I wish you could have a room 
all to yourself.” 

“ When we get a little richer we might raise the 
roof and make some nice rooms upstairs. Yes, 
that’s what we will do. We’ll keep that steadily 
in our minds and pray and pray. Mr. Burnham 
said you did get the things you prayed for, even 
when sometimes they were not best for you.” 

The mother sighed softly. She had done a good 
deal of praying in her day. But they were all 
well, and the miracle had happened to Chan. 

They were so engrossed with the books and 
the letter that they quite forgot about Thanks- 
giving. 

It was clear and bright the next day, but cold. 
Amaryllis washed and ironed the twins’ white 
aprons and basted a bit of ruffling in the necks of 
their stuff dresses that had been exhumed from 
the rummage bundle. She thought she could find 
use for everything but the two old silk frocks, and 


256 THE LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 

they would fall to pieces when you shook them 
out. 

Linn came home quite early Wednesday night, 
and Mrs. Beers had given him a nice mince pie, 
“ though you’ll have to cut it small to make it 
go round,” she said laughingly. There had been 
another light fall of snow, and as the ground had 
been frozen underneath, it made very good sleigh- 
ing. He was in fine spirits, business had been 
good, everybody was full of Thanksgiving prep- 
arations. 

“ I thought we’d kill the two old speckled hens,” 
Mrs. Firth said, “ and have a nice pot-pie, but 
we’ll save it over for Sunday dinner. Oh, chil- 
dren, I do hope you will behave nicely and not run 
wild.” 

“ We’ll be good, gooder, goodest, won’t we, 
Tip?” cried Prim, and he nodded. 

Of course Linn had been very eager to know 
what was in the box, “ and we will look them all 
over on Sunday. What a splendid present! Oh, 
Chan, I’m so glad it wasn’t you that died. I want 
us all to grow up to be men and women, and we 
won’t stay in this old two-cent town, but go some- 
where where we can have just royal times, and 
mother shall not work as she does now.” And 
then they hugged each other. 


CHAPTER XV 


MR. MANN’S THANKSGIVING PARTY 

Mr. Mann had been extremely busy and some- 
how curiously happy. The snow in the city had 
only amounted to slush. He had gone to see about 
his new purchase and decided Lady Betty was a 
bargain, so had concluded it and ordered her sent 
at once. Business had been very good during the 
fall, plenty of orders, willing workmen, prompt 
payment of bills. Last year he had given a turkey 
all round for the first time in his business career. 
He must not fail now when everything had pros- 
pered with him. There was this to look after, 
there were stores to send out home, there were 
dinners for several poor organizations to help out. 
The Rosses were to go to a country wedding of 
some relative, so even if he had counted on them 
they would have failed him. 

Oh, how beautiful the world about Grafton 
looked when he stepped out of the station! The 
far reaches of snowy loveliness with the back- 
ground of forest, many of the trees evergreens; 
the houses with their hooded peaks, the long level 
257 


258 THE CHILDREN IN THE 

of yellow light, the aspect of softness, silence, 
cleanliness, touched him like going into a new 
world, throbbed in every pulse with a joy he was 
content to feel but could not translate. 

“ Did she come, Dan ? ” 

“ About an hour ago,” touching his hat. “ She’s 
a beauty, sir. I don’t know but she’ll outshine 
Bonnie when she’s had as good care. She isn’t 
quite up to the mark.” 

“ She’s broken to the saddle. I think I will 
ride when pleasant weather comes if I am not too 
old and awkward. When I was a boy I rode bare- 
back; my only experience,” and he laughed. 

Was that little boy really himself? Was the 
other one bumming around, going hungry and 
sleeping anywhere, the present Adonijah Mann? 
Ah, he did owe a good deal to his kind when he 
had been so prospered. But country life was better 
for children. 

And the warm, cheerful home, how enjoyable 
it was! And when it came to have the little lad 
who would run to welcome him, the shining eyes 
with their gladness, the small hands slipped in his 
— the boy growing taller, wiser, and sweeter every 
year, almost like one of his own blood! He read 
his paper perfunctorily, so engrossed was he with 
his dream. 


LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 259 

“ I’d like to go on Wednesday noon,” said Mr. 
Ross. “ With children one doesn’t enjoy being 
late, and I suppose every train will be crowded.” 

“ Very well. I’ll see to the last things and take 
the gratitude,” he laughed, though he almost de- 
sired to be at home Wednesday. 

“ When that woman comes you must make her 
earn her salt,” and there was a twinkle in Mr. 
Mann’s eye. “ Have two of the turkeys cooked so 
you can just heat them over. I don’t want you 
to be in the kitchen all the time on Thursday.” 

“ I do believe you could cook a turkey and get 
a dinner yourself,” said Mrs. Alden. 

“ I cooked the last one we had,” he returned, a 
little gravely. “ Last Thanksgiving I had neither 
home nor wife.” 

He recalled her words : “ If you want a grand 
turkey dinner you’ll have to cook it yourself. I’m 
too busy to bother with it.” 

Oh, if she had only taken a little of the sweet- 
ness of life as she had gone along! His heart 
ached for her even in the grave. 

The woman had come, a tall, strong, rather 
gaunt person answering to the name of Lide. She 
was a good worker, took hold in real earnest and 
did not waste her time talking. 

As for him, he dealt out gifts and good wishes. 


260 THE CHILDREN IN THE 


He was pervaded by a holiday spirit. All the time 
he was learning of the delight a man could do and 
get by studying his fellow-creatures a little. Some 
gave him merely a gruff “ Thank you,” others a 
cheerful smile with it. One sad-looking fellow 
had to clear his throat before he spoke. 

“ I hope nothing is amiss ? ” said the employer 
kindly. 

“ Two sick children,” was the brief reply. 

He squeezed a bill into the man’s hand. Yes, 
there were sorrows and cares that he had not 
known, hard as he had thought his life at times. 

But when the train halted at Grafton he was 
struck anew by the wonderful beauty. There was 
nothing to mar the appearance of the station, no 
business debris. Two snow-covered pyramids that 
would be abloom all summer, a straight street, a 
winding road at one side, and the rows of avenues 
with their artistic houses. Then long stretches of 
unbroken snow, the rise of ground that was cov- 
ered with trees of various kinds, graceful ever- 
greens among them. And that long band of yellow 
light was almost like the last of a sunset, though 
the clouds above were gray. 

Everything was right. Mrs. Alden was well 
pleased with her handmaiden, and there was an 
appetizing dinner for him. 


LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 261 


“ But you’ve sent enough things for a feast,” she 
said, “ and there are no poor people about here.” 
Poverty in the country seldom means starva- 
tion. 

“ Well, you can let Dan take home a basket of 
the overflow,” laughing. 

She was so trim and nice and cheerful, this neat 
housekeeper who always seemed to know the right 
thing to do and do it without fussing. Mrs. Ross 
did fuss a little. A crook somewhere or an article 
in the wrong place disturbed her. Perhaps it was 
the care of young children. But there was the 
host over in the little old house that didn’t seem 
to cause much worry. They played and laughed, 
disputed and made up, sometimes slapped each 
other, at least Rhoda was quite free in administer- 
ing authority to her twin, but Laurel’s arms were 
so short and fat that Rhoda could dodge easily. 
No one seemed to note childish controversies until 
voices rose very high, then mother or Rilla said, 
“ Children, children ! ” and there came a calm on 
the sea of trouble. How did they get along so? 
he wondered. 

Latterly the idea of marrying again had entered 
his mind. It was foolish at five-and-forty, per- 
haps, but he thought he would like to be loved and 
cared for, have some one to kiss him when he 


262 THE CHILDREN IN THE 


went away and watch for his coming, and Mrs. 
Alden almost filled the bill. If there were some 
little children ! 

He took the thought with him to the library, 
where he stirred the fire and lighted his cigar. Of 
course sometime he would have his little boy. He 
felt now that it was best not to be in too great 
a hurry, but let them all get familiar with the idea. 
He would have the others over one or two at a 
time. But there ought to be some tender, womanly 
heart to mother Chan when he came. Little Chan 
with the beautiful voice scarcely any one was 
aware of. It must be worth something if Mr. 
Gwynne wanted to take it in hand. 

His cigar went out and he fell into a half-doze 
A woman came and clasped her soft hands under 
his chin, laid her warm cheek against his — his 
wife — the wife of some of the stories he had 
read. Well — he could count on a quarter of a 
century before real old age, and he would have 
her to travel down the decline with. Chan for 
a son, but he could not decide whether the daugh- 
ter should be Prim or Marigold. 

There was another light fall of snow in the 
night, but the morning was fine. The east was all 
aflame with summer-time radiance. The sky was a 
peerless blue with here and there a white drift 


LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 263 

sailing over it. Every twig was outlined and shone 
as if crested with diamonds. It was good to be 
alive, Adonijah Mann thought, and he uttered a 
reverent Thanksgiving. 

“ Dan,” he exclaimed after breakfast, “ pile the 
sleigh up with blankets and things and bring over 
every soul, if you have to pack the twins on the 
sleigh bottom. Otherwise you will have to go over 
again. Mind, now.” 

The horses came down the drive jingling the 
silvery bells; Lady Betty was the least bit arrogant 
and held her head high. What a pretty team they 
were ! 

Really the avenue was in a sort of gala proces- 
sion. Ridgewood people liked this road, it was so 
wide, straight, and smooth. Gay loads in fine 
array passed and repassed. One stopped at the 
Chedisters’ and let out a stylish party. 

“ So they are going to keep Thanksgiving, too ! ” 
Mr. Mann said to himself. 

Everything seemed to fly past. How he hoped 
nothing had happened ! 

There was great flurrying and scurrying in the 
little old house. The children had been scrubbed 
the night before, but if Amaryllis couldn’t put the 
ethics of dust in as exquisite language as Ruskin, 


264 THE CHILDREN IN THE 

she fought it in a way that would have appalled 
him. She dressed the twins and placed them on 
a chair and told them if they stirred they would 
be left at home, which she didn’t quite mean, of 
course, and they looked at each other with big 
eyes and quivering lips. 

Linn brought in a great pile of wood and some 
splendid kindlings, so they could start the fire at 
night, and he put a big log in the stove so it would 
last some hours. Then they heard the jingling of 
the merriest bells. 

“ Well, if that isn’t supersplacious, and mag- 
nificently grand ! ” declared Marigold. " Oh, why 
don’t we live down in the village and set everybody 
wild with envy! Another beautiful horse and a 
sleigh like Noah’s ark! Look, Chan, look!” 

Mrs. Firth had not been quite sure they would 
all go. Now she meekly gave Dan his way. 
There never had been anything like that ride in 
their lives. 

“ I feel as if I wanted to sing, ‘ On a Christmas 
morning,’ ” declared Marigold. “ Why, isn’t it 
Christmasy and fine? I know we sha’n’t have as 
gay a time at Christmas.” 

“ Maybe we’ll all go over there again,” subjoined 
Chan hopefully. 

“ Oh, children, I hope you won’t act as if you 


LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 265 

had just come out of the woods/’ said their 
mother. 

“ They’re ob-ster-epper-epperous,” declared Tip. 

“ I should have put in two more syllables,” re- 
marked Prim. 

They huddled up together and their laughter 
made echoes on the frosty air. 

One of the guests was standing in Mrs. 
Chedister’s bay window, and called to her. 

“ Oh, Emily, come and look at this load of chil- 
dren! Six, seven, eight. Do you suppose they 
are Institution young ones? They’re in hoods 
and motley array. And there’s a woman. Who 
lives next door?” 

Gladys came with a quickened step. Now they 
were laughing as they ran up the walk. 

“Well, there is a raft of them!” replied Mrs. 
Chedister. “ A Mr. Mann who is ” 

“What a beautifully matched team! Has he 
plenty of money?” 

“ I should think so. The Gedneys were in 
trouble and the place had to be sold. He’s a wid- 
ower, Grace,” laughing. 

“ Can’t we make some excuse to go in? Does 
he have these parties often? ” 

“ There were some children there in the summer, 


266 THE CHILDREN IN THE 


you know, mamma,” interposed Gladys. “ And 
they had such a good time.” 

“ Good time ! I thought they would tear things 
to pieces. They were Irish, I guess, and one had 
red hair.” 

“ Well, I suppose they don’t belong to him,” 
said Miss Grace Lawton. 

“ They ” were getting out of wraps upstairs in 
one of the rooms and came down in a sort of 
string, the twins bashfully hanging back. Rilla 
said you had to coax them to come to you and 
then coax them to stay away. And oh, how they 
had been scrubbed and scoured and rinsed until 
they shone painfully! Rilla didn’t know about 
talcum powder taking the shine off, and hadn’t 
any if she had known. Those finger nails had 
been a task of long-suffering and patience. 

But somehow they were in a huddle about Mr. 
Mann, their nicely brushed heads being tousled, 
and they nearly all talked at once while he kissed 
here and there and said, “ Have I been all around ? 
Hadn’t I better go again for fear I’ve missed 
somebody ? ” 

Oh, Miss Lawton, what would you have said 
to that! 

“ I ’ant to put a tiss in the hole in your cheek,” 
exclaimed Laurel, with infinite pains. 


LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 267 

“ So you may.” He lifted her up. How sweet 
and soft all the young lips were. That was the 
joy fathers had. 

“ I don’t see how you came to have such a dim- 
ple,” Marigold began complainingly. “ Men don’t 
need them. I wish I had it. Lai, take it out and 
give it to me.” 

Laurel put her small thumb and finger to the 
place and drew a long breath. 

“ I tan’t det it out.” 

“ Oh, Marigold ! ” said her mother, with a pink 
flush in her face that should have belonged to the 
girl. 

He sat down with the child on his knee. 

“ I’m afraid it won’t come out,” and he shook 
his head. “ It’s warranted to wash, even. I don’t 
know why it should have come there. I wish I 
could give it to you, Marigold. I’ve wanted it 
out many a time. I’ve heard of people having dim- 
ples made.” 

“ Punched in, I suppose ! It must hurt a good 
deal. I don’t like to be hurt.” 

“ Let them give you ether,” said Chan, slipping 
under Mr. Mann’s other arm. “ My box came. 
It was from little Arthur’s father. It seems odd 
that he should always be little to me when he was 
older. And the most beautiful books and two 


268 THE CHILDREN IN THE 


pictures. He willed them to me. Nurse Jane 
wrote his will and it was all signed right. And 
such a lovely letter — we all cried over it. I’ve 
brought it along.” 

“ It is just splendid,” added Marigold. “ And 
he said such nice things to Chan. I’m so glad he 
could sing for the poor little fellow.” 

Would some one else covet the voice? 

He put Laurel down. “ Let’s go and read 
it, Chan. We’ll be back in a moment or 
two.” 

He took Chan over in the corner of the library. 
It made his man’s eyes moist to see the crooked, 
trembling signature to which Arthur had added 
“ with my love.” And Mr. Collamore’s letter 
touched his heart as well. 

“ But you’re my boy, Chan; you’ll belong to 
me always,” and the strong arm tightened its grasp. 
“ You’ll never need to ask favors of any one. But 
it was very kind in Mr. Collamore, and I am 
glad he cared so much about his poor motherless 
boy. Oh, Chan, some day you will know how dear 
you have grown to me.” 

“ The dinner is ready,” announced Mrs. Alden. 

Then they were all marshaled out and seated 
in due order. Mrs. Alden and Mr. Mann were on 
opposite sides of the table, Mrs. Firth on one end 



They were all marshaled out and seated in due order. 

Page 268 . 






























I . 










































LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 269 

with a twin on each side, Amaryllis at the other 
end. Mr. Mann had Chan on his right hand and 
Linn on the left; Mrs. Alden had Tip on her right 
and the others sandwiched between. Mr. Mann 
had never said grace at his table before, but some- 
how he had been very full of gratitude of late 
and he asked a blessing now in a clear, manly 
tone. 

Oh, how nice they looked, if their clothes were 
not in the latest style ! Rilla had made some neck- 
ties out of pieces of the old silk gowns that were 
not so much faded. Their collars were all clean as 
well as their hands, and they sat up straight, as 
their mother had tried to impress upon them. And 
oh, what a turkey that was ! What elegant cran- 
berry sauce and golden lemon jelly, crisp celery, 
and onions in cream gravy. Mr. Mann carved, 
Lide helped to vegetables that were on a side table, 
Mrs. Alden to the others. It was funny, but at 
first they obeyed their mother’s mandate to the 
letter. 

“ Have you all left your tongues behind you? ” 
asked their host. 

“ Will Bo-Peep have to be sent after them? ” in- 
quired Prim. 

“ Mr. Mann, which side of the turkey is eaten 
first?” propounded Marigold. 


270 THE CHILDREN IN THE 

“ Why — it depends on which side you carve 
first.” 

“ No, it doesn’t depend upon that at all.” 

“ Well, suppose I turn mine over,” and he suited 
the action to the word. “ Now, Miss Mari- 
gold!” 

“ And that doesn’t answer the question.” 

“ Like the boy’s riddle they snap on you, there 
isn’t any answer to it.” 

There was a mirthful twinkle in Linn’s eye. 

“ I wouldn’t be so foolish as to ask a question 
that couldn’t be answered,” returned Marigold, 
with a fine air of dignity. 

“ You’ll find a great many of such questions in 
the world. Now, Miss Marigold, answer mine. 
Which side of the turkey — why,” and he glanced 
up puzzled — “ how was it ? There was a catch 
somewhere — which side of the turkey ” 

There was a merry shout. 

“ Is eaten first,” prompted Chan, leaning over. 

“Is eaten first?” triumphantly. 

“ Why, the right, always. The other is left ” 
returned Marigold, with the grace of innocence. 
“ You see, it doesn’t matter which way you turn 
the turkey.” 

“But suppose there isn’t any left?” 

“ I’ve answered the one question.” 


LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 271 

“ I’ll look up something to catch you. Have you 
any more of these things ? ” 

“ On which side of the church do they 
always plant the yew-tree in England ? ” asked 
Linn. 

“ Why — on the right side.” 

Linn shook his head. 

“ On the left, then.” 

Another shake. 

“ Then they don’t plant it at all.” 

“ Why, they plant it on the outside,” said Tip, 
giving it away. “ I know that.” 

“ I know it too, now,” said Mr. Mann, with a 
droll smile. 

“ Children,” and their mother’s voice was re- 
proving, “ it isn’t nice to bother Mr. Mann with 
your silliness. You see, they are so little with 
grown-up people,” apologetically. 

“ It makes a bit of fun and brightens one’s wits. 
I’m a rather stupid old fellow.” 

“ You’re not old at all,” resented Prim. 

He bowed and said “ Thank you.” Prim won- 
dered what it was for. 

They went on being merry and eating. There 
was no left side to the turkey, and slices of the 
other were brought on. Then Lide cleared the 
table. There was a small piece of mince pie, a 


272 THE CHILDREN IN THE 

great beautiful preserved peach, and nuts galore, 
almonds and English walnuts, which were a treat. 
Then Marigold, seized with a remembrance of 
something she had read only a little while before, 
rose and held up her glass of fresh water, ex- 
claiming : 

“ Here’s to your health, Mr. Mann, and ” — what 
came next? — “and may the best of everything 
come to you.” 

That was good, but it wasn’t quite as elegant 
as the real toast, and she sat down with a flushed 
face. 

He rose. “ Thank you most sincerely, my child. 
And here’s wishing we may all be together next 
Thanksgiving. You must all say ‘ Amen ’ to that.” 

They all said it reverently. Mr. Mann led the 
way to the library, and as Marigold entered he 
bent over and kissed her. 

It was growing a little dusky; the big tree at 
this corner of the house shut out some of the light. 
Then, too, the woods hid the westward sun. Mr. 
Mann stirred up the fire and made a brilliant 
blaze. 

“ Oh, let’s sit on the floor and watch it ! ” cried 
Prim. “ It’s always so comfortable. You want 
to slip off the chairs. They seem made especially 
for grown-up people. When I am rich I shall have 


LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 273 

a splendid wood-fire and sit on the floor with ever 
so many around me and tell them stories like 
Scheherazade.” 

“ Well, you might begin now. Here is the fire 
and the floor,” said the host. 

“ I haven’t put my wonderful stories in the right 
shape yet. I want to learn about Persia and 
Arabia and all those mysterious Eastern countries 
where the queer things happen and there are genii 
and strings of jewels hanging on trees and 
people who can be transformed into different 
things.” 

“ How long will I have to wait?” 

“ Oh, Prim, tell him about the Kron,” exclaimed 
Linn. 

“ You must excuse them,” said Mrs. Firth depre- 
catingly. “ They are so much alone and they have 
to entertain each other, and sometimes it’s just 
foolishness.” 

“ But what is this about the — what did you call 
it?” glancing around. 

Laurel had crawled up on her mother’s lap and 
dropped asleep. Chan was on Mr. Mann’s knee, 
the others in a little huddle before the fire. 

“ It’s a funny long word that no one but Prim 
can say,” explained Chan. “ And now he’s clear 
inside of the earth where he makes ’ructions.” 


274 THE CHILDREN IN THE 

“ Why, yes, I want to hear about him.” 

“ Go on, Prim,” prompted Linn. 

“ It’s the Chrononhontontholagosphorus.” 

“The what!” ejaculated Mr. Mann, in amaze. 

“ The Chrononhontontholagosphorus.” 

He laughed until he shook Chan. “ That beats 
me,” he admitted. “ I never could remember it. 
And what about him ? ” 

Primrose had been so grave that she seemed in 
dead earnest. 

“ Go on,” prompted Linn again. 

“ Well, once clear up by the North Pole, where 
the cakes of ice float around in summer and freeze 
together in winter this big animal lived. There 
was a lot of bears — I don’t know whether you call 
them a drove or a herd. They’d crawled out and 
they were awful hungry, and they were white as 
snow, for the cold had bleached them all up. They 
looked around and espied this strange thing; he 
was lying in a heap then and didn’t look so big, and 
they said to each other, ‘ Oh, let us go over there 
and kill him. He’ll make us a good dinner.’ So 
they started off and took long strides from cake 
to cake and came along cautiously. The mean old 
thing never stirred until they were up quite close, 
when he made a spring and caught the foremost 
one with his huge paw. The others turned and 


LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 275 

fled while he was eating up their companion. Then 
they saw an immense whale, who had come up to 
breathe, and they said, ‘ There’s an awful creature 
up there on that cake of ice. Can’t you thrash 
round with that splendid big tail of yours and 
turn the cake over so he will drown? for we don’t 
believe he can swim a bit, and if he stays we’re 
afraid he will eat us all up.’ 

“ Now the whale was good-natured, for he had 
been swallowing loads of fishes, and he thought 
it would be quite fun. So he said, ‘ Yes. Now 
you watch and see me.’ Then he began to make a 
terrible commotion, and the Chrononhontonthola- 
gosphorus looked up and began to teeter. The 
cake of ice broke loose and he was too clumsy 
to jump anywhere, but the other cakes broke loose, 
too. The whale kept on, and the bears danced and 
howled, their way of rejoicing, and the poor old 
fellow had to go on and on. Now you know, there 
is an open polar sea — the geography says so — and 
so that must be true. Well, he struck that, and 
then he floated on, but the whale was bound to 
drown him if he could, for he thought he couldn’t 
swim. He began to claw the cake of ice and that 
kept breaking off, and presently there was a great 
black pit, and over he went head first.” 

The children all drew a long breath when Prim 


276 THE CHILDREN IN THE 

made this pause, many times as they had heard 
the story. Mr. Mann started, too. 

“ Oh, I hope that isn’t the end,” he said. “ A 
creature with such a long name ought to have a 
long life.” 

“ He is alive yet,” returned Prim solemnly. “ I 
don’t believe he will ever die. You see, up there 
the earth is sort of flattened and there’s a pole run- 
ning through it, so there has to be a hole. It was 
turning round just then, and it swept the Chronon- 
hontontholagosphorus in, and down he went.” 

“ And what then ? ” with almost the eagerness 
of a child, wondering how she was to work to an 
end. 

“There’s a great space and there’s another 
world inside. Teacher read about it one day, 
though she said she didn’t really believe it; but 
no one truly knows for fair. Well, the Chronon- 
hontontholagosphorus floundered around; he had 
cat’s eyes and could see in the dark, and it looked 
very queer. Then he got awfully hot; he could 
hardly get his breath. So he sprang up on top of 
a high place and put his back against the crust and 
pushed with all his might, and the crust cracked 
and made a little streak of light, and the wind 
blew all about and that refreshed him. Then he 
went on and on, for that space wasn’t big enough 


LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 277 

to let him through. So after awhile he tried it 
again, and this time it was terrific. There were 
explosions, and rivers rushed around, and he was 
amused at the great commotion he had created, 
and thought he’d go on having some more fun. 
So he does that every now and then, and we have 
an earthquake.” 

“ Is that how it happens?” Mr. Mann threw 
back his head and laughed. 

“ There is some one truly there. Teacher read 
about him. His name is Enceladus. But I like 
my big fellow better. I thought him up my- 
self.” 

“ You are a genius, certainly. Do you know 
any more ? ” 

“Oh, Mr. Mann, I ought to take the children 
home. It is getting late,” protested the mother. 

“You had better wait for the moonlight. That 
will be along presently.” 

“ Tell him about the Meggy,” interposed Linn. 
“ That won’t take very long, and it’s so splendid 
here.” 

Linn was hugging his knees and rocking himself 
to and fro, the picture of enjoyment. 

“ That’s a dictionary thing. I found the picture 
of him one day. Dictionaries are splendid. When 
I get big and earn some money I’m going to buy 


278 THE CHILDREN IN THE 

one. There’s so many pictures you can tell stories 
about.” 

“ But the — what is it? You’ll have to write 
these queer names out for me. And to-morrow, 
when I am in town, I’ll buy a big picture diction- 
ary, and every time you come over you shall have 
it.” 

“ Oh, thank you! Well, before there were any 
people in the world there were all kinds of animals 
and beasts and things, and this was a horrid great 
thing, but they hadn’t any names yet, the Bible 
says so. And this beast of a thing went around 
eating up all the smaller ones, who had to fly for 
their lives. They grew awfully tired of it, and held 
a council where they thought up ever so many 
plans, but they all seemed rather lame. Then a 
cunning fox said : 

“ 4 There’s a great quagmire over there in that 
boggy place, and if he once got in, he is so big and 
clumsy he never could get out. Instead of hiding 
away, let’s form a great body and go leaping before 
him. We’re so light we can skip from bog to bog, 
and we’ll keep well in advance.’ 

“ They all shouted so that the beast woke up, 
and presently he found where they were. They 
chattered and screamed, and some of them made 
piteous cries, as if they were afraid. When he saw 


LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 279 

the great concourse he put off after them, picking 
his way. But presently his forefeet went down 
pretty deep and he plunged around, and when he 
got them out he gave a big leap where the quag- 
mire was awfully soft and down he went with all 
four feet. Then he couldn’t get out, and it began 
to rain and the great marsh filled up, but he kept 
sinking deeper and deeper. When it cleared up 
the other things came back, and the great hornets 
stung him and the eagles and condors clawed him, 
the foxes and the wolves tore great pieces out of 
him and had a fine feast, and so the poor fellow 
soon died. Well, after that there was a great 
landslide that covered him up, and the earth and 
the rocks buried him, and that was thousands of 
years ago. Then there came people on the earth, 
and they cleared it up and leveled it and began to 
make houses and farms. And one day a lot of 
workmen got down to him and they threw out 
heaps of bones. And then a man with a notebook 
and a pair of spectacles came along and looked 
them over and said they were great curiosities and 
wanted them, and an Italian who was working 
on a railroad came and said, ‘ Me gather um, me 
gather um,’ and so he did, and put them in a great 
bag to be taken to a museum, and they strung them 
on wires and the man thought that a good name; 


280 THE CHILDREN IN THE 


but he wanted to be polite and he called it Meg-a- 
the^ri-um, and that’s the way it is in the dic- 
tionary.” 

“ Primrose, you have the genius of a discov- 
erer,” and Mr. Mann laughed again heartily. “ I’ll 
get the dictionary for you and you shall pay me by 
degrees.” 

“ They’re not real stories and we only tell them 
for fun, but teacher sometimes reads stories aloud 
that aren’t a bit better.” 

“ You’ll do for Scheherazade.” 

“ Oh, Mr. Mann, it’s just the children’s foolish- 
ness — you know they have to amuse each other. 
We haven’t any neighbors. And we have had such 
a lovely day ! It’s just a Thanksgiving. We never 
had one like it. But we must go. There’ll be the 
fire to make up ” 

She partly rose with Laurel in her arms, and 
then leaned back again. How sort of pretty and 
girlish she looked, her cheeks flushed with the 
warmth, and that deprecating expression in her 
eyes. For a moment he stared. The children were 
expressing their joy and made quite a hub- 
bub. 

“ Oh, children ! ” she exclaimed helplessly. 
“ And the twins are fast asleep.” 

Rhoda lay with her head in the lap of Amaryl- 


LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 281 

lis, and they made a pretty group on the floor. A 
curious longing pervaded the man’s heart. 

“ Mrs. Firth, please let some of them stay; the 

twins and ” he looked eagerly. Should he 

choose Prim or Marigold, so he compromised on 
Amaryllis. “ And my boy Chan here, and Tip, if 
he will ” 

“ Oh, yes,” interrupted Mrs. Alden. “ We can 
make them comfortable.” 

“ It’s too much trouble. I can’t impose on you 
so. And they haven’t any nighties,” she said, in 
a flurried tone. 

“ We can find something.” 

“ Why, you can put them in a pillowcase and 
pin it up about the neck. The Esquimau children 
are put in a fur bag with a cap over their heads 
and just a little breathing hole,” announced Mari- 
gold. 

Mrs. Firth stood Laurel on the floor and Rilla 
woke up her mate. No, she couldn’t consent to 
their staying. They would be bundled up warm 
and a good fire would soon be blazing in the stove. 
Oh, they must go, and she really appealed to Mr. 
Mann with such beseeching eyes that he gave in. 

Dan brought the sleigh around. The babies were 
bundled up head and ears, one in the mother’s 
arms, the other in the eldest sister’s. The fur robes 


282 THE LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 


were packed around tightly, and Tip and Chan ran 
back into the warm house. 

“ It seems cruel to take those little ones out/’ 
said Mrs. Alden. 

“ And now, children, you must go to bed,” said 
their host. “ Tip, the bears have all hidden in 
their holes and they wouldn’t come out for ten little 
boys. Chan, my little lad, good-night.” 


CHAPTER XVI 


MAKING A DREAM COME TRUE 

Adonijah Mann came back to the room where 
the echo of children’s voices seemed to linger. 
How merry they had been ! That was what houses 
were for, to be made into delightful homes with 
children growing up in them, loving, enjoying, 
having good times that would shed a radiance all 
along manhood and womanhood. 

He took out his cigar, bit off the end, but did 
not light it. If they were here he should give up 
smoking; he had never cared much for it. With 
him it had been a lonely man’s comfort. He 
moved his chair a little so he could see the willow 
rocker where she had been sitting with the sleep- 
ing child in her arms when the thought had startled 
him. Well, why not? It would come hard to 
have her household depleted. It would perhaps 
cause heart burnings to have two or three of them 
on the fortunate and indulged side of life and the 
others struggling with poverty. Oh, it would 
never do! 


283 


284 THE CHILDREN IN THE 

What did he want with all this prosperity ? He 
was not a millionaire, but business was going on 
well with him and Mr. Ross. There would be 
enough. And why not spend it on these children 
instead of leaving it to an orphan home when he 
was dead? 

Besides, he was learning that he had a large 
social side to his nature, also a longing for affec- 
tion. He had been shut out of that, starved in 
the earlier years. He was five-and- forty now; 
there might be a quarter of a century added to his 
years — some men live to fourscore. Time enough 
to see them all grown up, the girls to have lovers 
and husbands, the boys to make their way in the 
world and have homes. Then there would be 
grandchildren. Twenty lovely, heartsome years. 
And she — he could count up her years. Married 
at twenty-three, only a little over fifteen years 
ago. Their ages would be suitable, certainly. And 
if they stayed in the little old red house the hard- 
est pull was yet to come. And the children might 
never reach the standing for which nature had 
really given them the ability. Poverty was a hard 
master and made many slaves. 

Was that Dan coming back so soon? How long 
he had sat here dreaming. He rose and went to 
the door. 


LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 285 

“ You left them all right? ” 

“Oh, yes. Well, it’s been a great day! And 
they sang all the way home. They’re the jolliest 
crew you’d meet in a month of Mondays. They 
did have a grand good time.” 

“ Thank you.” 

“ Why, I think I’ve had a wonderful Thanks- 
giving, too,” rejoined Dan. 

Why shouldn’t they have a grand good time all 
the rest of their lives? 

The little old house was dark and cold, but they 
soon had lights and a fire and the pleasures were 
sandwiched between the discomforts, for they kept 
up a stream of gay laughter. The twins were laid 
in a bundle on the trundle-bed, while their nighties 
were brought out to warm. There were two pieces 
of soapstone on the stove heating, for the garret 
was cold. 

“ See here,” exclaimed Linn; “ I’ll bring Chan’s 
cot out here and the girls can sleep in my bed. 
With the doors open it will soon be warm all 
through.” 

“ That’s ever so good of you, Linn,” and Rilla 
kissed him. 

“After having had such a splendid day one 
ought to ” 

“ And the dinner ! And that elegant fire ! And 


286 THE CHILDREN IN THE 


then sitting on the floor. It gave you such a good, 
homey feeling.” 

“ But you were foolish, Prim. The stories do 
here at home, but when you are out ” 

“ Momsey, we don’t often go out. No one ever 
asked us all at once except on the Sunday-school 
picnic, and then you have to take your own pro- 
visions, and they made Rilla run about and wait 
on folks. And, oh my ! To have some one come 
in and take away the dinner and bring in lovely 
plates and dessert and all ! I don’t think Mr. Mann 
minded very much.” 

“ He enjoyed every bit of it,” declared Linn 
stoutly. “ He’s of the merry sort.” 

“ And that dimple in his cheek ! Oh, I wish I 
had it ! ” confessed Marigold for about the hun- 
dredth time. 

“ And here’s a lovely big basket of things ” 

“ I’m hungry. Why, we could almost eat our 
breakfast. Oh, yes, let’s have some of these nice 
biscuits and just a bite of the ham,” begged Linn. 
“ I don’t believe we’ll ever have another such a 
feast in all our lives.” 

Mrs. Firth protested and they gave in. It was 
midnight before they were all in bed, and it was 
hard for Linn to get up by lamplight and turn 
out in the frosty morning for his more than a 


LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 287 

mile walk. But he laughed and whistled on the 
way and tried to get in every syllable of the Kron. 

Mrs. Firth did not have to go out to work, 
and there was no school until Monday. How for- 
tunate that Linn was earning a little, for her sew- 
ing was dropping off. It was quite dull last winter, 
she remembered. Most people were sewing up new 
frocks and aprons for Christmas gifts and hoard- 
ing the money to buy them. But there was work 
enough to be done at home. 

“ And let us cut up the rest of the rubbish into 
carpet rags,” said housewifely Amaryllis. “If we 
could have two new breadths in the spring! I 
mean to fix up the west end of the garret real nice 
so it will look almost like a room. If we could 
only have some kind of a bureau to put our nicest 
things in, Goldie and I.” 

“ When old Mrs. Preston dies, and it can’t be 
long now, Eliza Ann is going to sell out all the 
things and go to her brother’s. It’s all hundred- 
year-old truck, like Aunt Hitty’s, but sometimes a 
piece or two comes in handy. Maybe we might 
buy something.” 

Prim told the twins Mother Goose and all the 
rhyming stories she could remember and sewed 
carpet rags almost as fast as she talked. They 
had a dinner feast from the basket. 


288 THE CHILDREN IN THE 


“ I suppose Tip and Chan are having nice things, 
and at the Beers’ there’ll be the Thanksgiving frag- 
ments for Linn, so we can eat up the good things 
without any misgivings of conscience, as Granny 
Keen calls it. I hope some one gave her a nice 
dinner. We haven’t seen her in a long while.” 

“ Poor old soul,” commented Mrs. Firth sym- 
pathetically. 

“ Now, Mis’ Firth,” began Marigold, in a mum- 
bling way, as if her teeth were out, “ would you 
druther be lost at sea er in a railroad smosh? 
’Cause if you’re wracked on the land, there you 
stand, an’ if you’re lost in the sea, there you be. 
I hain’t never been able to make up my mind.” 

It was an excellent imitation of Granny Keen, 
and one of her never-solved puzzles, rather funny, 
seeing she was not likely to journey either way. 

“ Oh, Marigold ! ” her mother protested, yet she 
laughed. 

It was almost night when Dan brought the two 
boys home. They had been taken over to Ridge- 
wood and went to some lovely stores. In one 
there was a band and the funniest little play in 
which the actors never spoke but made signs, only 
you could tell what they meant just as plain as 
day. And at another place there was a Punch 
and Judy show the like of which they had never 


LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 289 

seen before, and which Tip never tired of exploit- 
ing afterward for the benefit of the twins, but 
Rilla had to rig him up another doll. 

“ And he was just as good as he could be,” said 
Chan, “ and never cried a word.” 

“ Why, there wasn’t nothing to cry about,” s^id 
Tip, in a sort of grandiose manner. 

Chan sat down beside his mother when it was 
too dark to do anything. The others were around 
by the stove engrossed with Punch and Judy. 

“ Chan dear,” his mother began, in a low tone, 
“ did Mr. Mann say anything about — about your 
coming ” 

“ No, mother ; but I guess it was because I Said 
I’d have to stay home and help you now that 
Linn was away. But he’s awful good and sweet 
to me, and calls me his little boy, and he’s going 
to get a pretty bookcase over there for me to keep 
all those nice books in, and I can make believe 
borrow them and bring home one at a time to 
read. I know he loves me very m!uch; you can 
always tell when it is real, true love, can’t you? ” 

“ Yes, dear, you surely can.” 

“ Wasn’t it splendid yesterday ! Oh, it makes 
such a nice thing to talk about. And the house 
is so grand and pretty. And in the summer he 
said I could learn to ride on Lady Betty, but I 


290 THE CHILDREN IN THE 

think I like Bonnie best. She rubs her nose in 
your hand in such a cunning way. I’m not a bit 
afraid of her, but Lady Betty looks at you and 
snaps her eyes as if she said : ‘ Oh, you don’t know 
the pranks I am up to ! ’ ” 

His mother laughed softly. 

“ So maybe I won’t go until next summer. We’ll 
get used to it by that time, and Tip will be bigger. 
But when I think of it I feel as if I would like 
to be two boys — twins,” with a ripple of mirth, 
“so if one went there, the other could stay 
here.” 

“ That would be nice.” His mother kissed him. 

Sunday it snowed again, just a little to help up 
the roads. It didn’t matter in the country, where 
there was plenty of room and you did not have to 
hire it carted away. It was not so snapping cold 
and the sun shone like a jolly fellow, so on Mon- 
day there was almost a frolic at school, snowballing 
and building a fort. They built one every winter 
and a snow man just as big as patience and courage 
could construct. And the children were very much 
interested in the Firths’ Thanksgiving and could 
hardly understand it when this Mr. Mann wasn’t 
any real relation. 

Prim had asked Chan confidentially if Mr. Mann 
thought her very silly. 


LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 291 

“ Why, no. That means foolish. He thinks 
you are smart, and he don’t see how you can think 
up such funny things. He has a big dictionary, 
and we looked up that ‘ meg ’ thing, and there it 
was, sure enough, only he didn’t see how you could 
put it together in such a funny fashion. Oh, a 
dictionary is splendid, but his cost eighteen dollars, 
and that’s a sight of money. I don’t think we’ve 
ever had eighteen dollars at once.” 

“ Well,” with a reflective sigh, “ we’ve had lots 
of fun.” 

No one wanted Mrs. Firth that week. She had 
been so busy all the fall that she quite missed it. 
There was nothing she actually needed to buy — for 
a wonder. No one wanted shoes, though she felt 
that Tip ought to have new rubber boots soon. It 
was Thursday afternoon, and she sat by the win- 
dow sewing when the sleigh drove up and Mr. 
Mann sprang out. 

She opened the door, and he stepped in, bright 
and rosy. 

“ Will you bundle up the twins and let Amaryl- 
lis take them out. Rilla, I think you do not get 
quite your share of the good things going round, 
you are such a stay-at-home, mother-like body, yet 
you are the first one I invited to ride with me — 
that day I brought you up from the store.” 


292 THE CHILDREN IN THE 

“ Oh, yes, I remember,” and the brown eyes 
lighted up with pleasure. 

“ Well, get ready now. It’s almost like a spring 
day, and I’m afraid it will take the snow off too 
fast. Fve grown very fond of sleighing. That’s 
one of the enjoyable country habits. Come, get 
ready.” 

No one thought to demur. The twins were 
bundled up and had extra stockings pulled over 
their little feet and legs. Mr. Mann carried them 
out. Rilla had Lai on the seat with her and they 
were swathed like mummies, while Dan hugged 
up Rhoda with his strong arm. Bonnie was alone 
to-day. 

Then Mr. Mann led Mrs. Firth back into the 
house, and for a moment something new in his 
demeanor made her feel a little strange. 

“Won’t you sit down?” she said. Of course 
he would have to stay until Dan came back. 

“ I’ll take off my coat.” He hung it over the 
back of the chair and placed his hat on the seat. 
“ I’ve come over to talk of several matters, and 
that was why I didn’t want any audience pr any 
interruption.” 

Oh, it was about Chan. She smiled vaguely, 
but she stood still with a sort of feeling that her 
guest must be seated first. And as he studied her 


LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 293 

a flush of something akin to bashfulness stole 
over her. 

“ Yes,” hardly realizing what she was saying, 
“ Chan ” 

“ It isn’t about Chan now. It’s about myself. 
These matters come easy enough to young people, 
I suppose, but plain old fellows like me have to go 
straight to the point. I’ve come over to ask you 
to marry me.” 

“ To — to ” She was so surprised that she 

wavered a little, and he caught her with one arm. 

“ Yes, to marry me.” There was almost a 
mirthful sound in his voice. 

“ Oh, I couldn’t,” tremulously. 

“ Couldn’t? And why ? ” 

“ Oh, there are all the children. Eight of them. 
Any one would think you were crazy.” 

“ And the children are what I want. Why, I’ve 
wanted them all my life. She was not fond of 
children, she thought them a great bother and 
expense. And when I came to Grafton I fancied 
I would take one or two out of an institution, but 
I felt I would like to know about their mothers, 
which I couldn’t. And then I found yours in 
that funny fashion;” laughing from a satisfied 
heart. 

“ I had resolved to give you Chan ” 


294 THE CHILDREN IN THE 

“ And that Thanksgiving night I felt they ought 
not be separated. Then I saw you with the little 
girl in your arms and knew you were the wife I 
wanted, though I had not thought much of marry- 
ing before. Then the children would have their 
own mother.” 

“ But you can’t understand,” she pleaded. 
“ You have never really known about children. 
No matter how well you love them, they are a 
great care and trouble. They do so many little 
things you don’t want them to do, things that are 
not vicious, either. They dispute, too; they are not 
always kind to one another. They make a sight of 
work, and there is the great question of what you 
will do with them as they grow older, what is 
best for them. But when they are yours you love 
them and they love you, and every little life is a 
part of your own, and it would be a hard wrench to 
give any of them up ” 

“ And if one small woman can care for them 
as you have done, can’t a strong man with plenty 
of means come in and help carry the burden? 
Yes, let me. And let me care for you and give 
me a little love in return. That is all I ask. The 
children and some love from you.” 

“ People would think you were crazy. And 
there is that nice Mrs. Alden. She would be 


LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 295 

good to Chan, I know. She is so sweet and re- 
fined and ” 

“ She couldn't be quite an own mother. She 
might do for an institution child, but Chan would 
know the difference. And it would be a sin to 
part them. Then I haven’t a relative that I know 
of who could feel aggrieved, and as for outsiders, 
I don’t care a button for their opinion so long 
as I keep honest and upright myself. And I want 
you” 

She was as bad as Tip. She leaned her face 
down on his broad breast and cried softly. It 
didn’t seem as if she had any right to take so 
much. 

After some moments he raised the face and 
kissed it. She had been so much with children 
that she was simple as a child herself. Then he 
took a seat and drew her down on his knee. 

“ That is all settled,” he began, in a joyous tone 
that thrilled her. “ I’ve thought it over and over 
and planned it all out. Christmas falls on Thurs- 
day. You will all come over on Wednesday morn- 
ing. I want a pretty wedding that will be some- 
thing for the children to remember. It will be 
along in the afternoon, and then there’ll be a sort 
of little feast with wedding-cake and all that. I 
shall ask only the Rosses, and your guests may be 


296 THE CHILDREN IN THE 

the minister and his wife. Then we’ll begin our 
lives on Christmas morning. There may be years 
of delight for us if it please God, and we shall 
see the children growing up into nice men and 
women and having a fair chance with life and 
education and all that. I don’t mean that you shall 
ever be sorry that you gave them to me, and I want 
to make you very happy. I want you to love me, 
for I’ve never had much love. I was reading 
some verses the other evening where the man 
wanted to live until he had found what ‘ some have 
found so sweet,’ and that was love.” 

She drew a long breath. What wonderful thing 
had come to her! But presently she said, with a 
scarletface and downcast eyes : “ You are so good, 
but you don’t know — what real poverty is and the 
straits it puts you in. You see, we have the house 
and the big garden and enough to eat, and my 
pension. The neighbors have been very good. 
They see that I have all the fuel I need, and in 
killing-time they send in meats and sausage and 
all that. And I’ve earned a little money sewing 
for them. But — I couldn’t get ready, and I 
wouldn’t want to shame you. Oh, perhaps it 
wouldn’t be best ” 

“ It is all right and planned out in the best way. 
I studied it all over before I spoke. For the 


LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 297 

children’s sake you will let me have my way. 
What does it matter ? I and my money will belong 
to you and we will both enjoy it.” 

The bells gave warning. 

“ This is our secret for the present ; we will not 
take any one into our counsel,” and he rose to 
open the door. 

Amaryllis laughed, with shining eyes and rosy 
cheeks. Ah! she didn’t know how soon she was 
to be his daughter and bring gladness into his life. 
They trooped in. 

“ I’ve had the loveliest ride ! ” she exclaimed 
joyously. 

“ I had ’ovely yide,” said Laurel, holding out 
both hands. 

“ Laurel Firth, if I was a big girl, going to be 
six years old next June, I would try to talk plain,” 
declared Rhoda, with a great accession of dignity. 

Mr. Mann caught her up in his arms and kissed 
her. She could afford to be the baby a while 
longer. 

“ She has until next June, anyhow, Miss Con- 
sequence,” he returned laughingly. 

“ And I am a thousand times obliged,” continued 
Amaryllis. “ We’ve been all over, and Linn came 
out and waved his hand to us.” 

Mr. Mann put on his fur coat. He would have 


298 THE LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 

liked to clasp Bessy Firth inside of it, and he said 
in a low tone, “ Sunday afternoon.” 

“Why, mother, you look almost as if you had 
been crying,” said Rilla. “ Is he going to take 
Chan soon? ” 

“ Well — not very,” she replied unsteadily, and 
went to mend the fire that had dropped down. 

“ O dear ! How splendid it will be for Chan. 
And — don’t you think we can go over and visit 
him? I do like Mr. Mann so very much.” 

The mother’s face was scarlet again. She al- 
most kissed her secret into her daughter’s surprised 
look. Oh, was it really true? 


CHAPTER XVII 


A FAIRY GODFATHER 

“ Mrs. Ross, ma’am, I’ve taken your advice 
and am going to marry.” 

Mr. Mann had entered the cozy sitting-room 
where he was always a welcome guest. 

“ Oh, I am so glad,” and she gave a quick smile. 
“ Mrs. Alden, of course.” 

“ No, it isn’t Mrs. Alden ” 

“ Oh, not some foolish young thing, I hope?” 
with an expression of genuine distress. 

“ No, of very suitable age. It’s — it’s that little 
Chan’s mother.” 

“ Mr. Mann ! ” in a horrified tone. “ And 
aren’t there eight children? Why, you are ” 

“ No, in my senses. I wanted the children.” 
He laughed joyously and with a spice of mischief 
as well. “ If Mrs. Alden had had some little ones 
she would have captured me in the summer. But 
it would have been the old story. Then I thought 
I’d adopt Chan, but the loyal little fellow hated 
to give up his mother. They’re a nice, healthy lot 
299 


3 oo THE CHILDREN IN THE 

and any man may be proud of them, and I love 
the mother. Then I’ve money enough to care for 
them all. It will be the making of eight nice 
men and women I hope. It will be as good as 
leaving some money to an orphan asylum.” 

“ Well — if you are suited.” But it was only 
half-heartedly. She was so surprised. 

“ Yes, and you are about the only real woman 
friend I have. I want you to stand by me and 
help me out a little, and to come up. I’ve planned 
to be married Wednesday afternoon so the chil- 
dren can have a real Christmas. It will be at my 
house where there is plenty of room. And I 
don’t want her bothered with anything — besides I 
don’t believe she’d really know. I’m going to do 
the shopping, wedding gown and all, and I want 
your help.” 

Mrs. Ross did not like it at all, and she was 
disappointed for her friend. But on the other 
hand he had been such a good friend to them, and 
truly the author of their prosperity. Then he did 
need some woman’s counsel. How could he get 
along alone? Then, too, she, like most women, 
was interested in wedding gear. 

“ At your house,” she said, with cool delibera- 
tion, “in the evening?” 

“ No, about four, I think, and then a little wed- 


LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 301 

ding feast. We’ll give the men a half-holiday, and 
you and Mr. Ross will come up ” 

“ We are going to mother’s,” hesitatingly. 
“ She is to come in and take the children with 
her on Tuesday, and they are to spend the whole 
vacation. We were to go Wednesday evening.” 

“ Wait until Thursday morning. Mr. Ross is 
willing. Then you can come up at noon, or you 
might come in the morning and he at noon.” 

The face and voice were alike persuasive. 

“And the shopping, what about that?” she 
asked. 

“ Oh, when you can spare the time. Some 
things for the little girls, and — a pretty, soft 
wedding gown.” 

“ Silk ? ” at a venture. 

“ No, I think I do not care for that. I saw 
some a few days ago. You know, if I gave her 
two or three diamonds and a handsome necklace 
and so on, that would be all right. We’ll save the 
diamonds until some other occasion,” and he gave 
a short laugh. “ Something soft and white and 
clinging ” 

“ White ? ” raising her eyebrows. 

“ Yes, I want it nice for the children to re- 
member. I want to think myself of some one 
in bridal fairness. Before, we went to a parson- 


302 THE CHILDREN IN THE 

age in everyday gear. It was sordid, joyless, not 
a friend to wish us Godspeed. It need not have 
been so, but I had not the courage to make a 
protest. It was all work and parsimony. It does 
not make the best kind of men and women, if 
it makes money. And now I am going to have 
it all different. We have no friends to annoy 
by our lack of conventionalism. It is just for 
ourselves. We shall live for each other and the 
children, going back to a certain youthfulness of 
gladness. I’ve been learning the pleasure it 
affords one’s self to give joy to others. And so 
if you will help me out a little — it is asking a 
good deal. She couldn’t do any of this even if 
we waited until spring without the neighborhood’s 
knowing and wanting to discuss and advise.” 

Mrs. Ross felt that she did not quite approve, 
but it was his life and his happiness. So she 
yielded and they did the shopping, she tempering 
the man’s ideas. An outfit for the little girls, and 
he found among what the magnificent saleslady 
called simple evening dresses something quite to 
his liking. 

“ That is nun’s-veiling,” said Mrs. Ross. It 
was soft and fine and prettily made, but not very 
grand. 

“ I didn’t want anything stiff or glossy, but to 


LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 303 

fall around like a cloud. Yes, that will do. And 
a pretty dress to wear to breakfast. I believe I 
should like pink.” 

She talked him out of that. There was a deli- 
cate gray with pink pipings and pale pink bows, 
so the order was made out. No, she would not 
take anything for herself — she was truly glad to 
be of service to him. 

“ Dan,” he said on reaching the station, “ drive 
round to the little old house.” 

The children had just reached home, having 
snowballed and sledded on the way. 

“ I want Chan to come over and stay all night,” 
he announced, “ and go to the city to-morrow. 
Nurse Jane wants to see him, and we’ll have a 
little lark by ourselves. Everything is all right,” 
he said with joyous, meaning eyes to the 
mother. 

So Chan put on his best suit and felt there was 
something gay and unusual in the air. 

There was his room that had been put in order 
as a surprise. The corner room had been newly 
furnished. It had a big bay window in it, and 
just off it, over the hall, was this with dainty 
papering, a little white bed, a handsome combina- 
tion bookcase and desk, a table, and some chairs. 

“ Dan may bring your books over some day, 


3o 4 THE CHILDREN IN THE 

and you can arrange them. Any other things that 
have grown dear to you ” 

Chan tried to wink the tears away, then he hid 
his face on the capacious breast. 

“ I mean you to be very happy here, little lad. 
This is my room, so you will be near by. And 
now we’ll go down and sit by the fire. I have 
something else to tell you.” 

There was not the great Thanksgiving blaze, 
but just a cozy little one with red and blue and 
yellow gnomes chasing each other about. He took 
the big “ Morris ” chair and lifted Chan up on 
his lap, let him snuggle down with the caressing 
arm about him. 

“Chan, I’m going to trust you with a secret and 
you must keep it sacredly until — let me see — next 
Wednesday. Then your mother and all the chil- 
dren are coming over for a good long visit and 
the merriest sort of a Christmas. And to-morrow 
we are going to buy Santa Claus gifts for Linn 
and Tip, and have a gay little run about, and go 
up to the hospital. I really ought to have taken 
you before. They all want to see you.” 

“ Oh, I think there ought to be fairy godfathers, 
but in the stories they are always fairy god- 
mothers. And you are just one.” He reached 
up and kissed him. “ You do so many beautiful 


LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 305 

things. And I almost didn’t want to come and 
live here, because, you see, I’d grown so used to 
them at home, and mother is so sweet, but I’ll come 

and stay, and be your little boy always ” and 

the soft, child’s voice had a little break in it. 

“ Yes, dear. Thank you. We are not going 
to lose sight of them, you know, and I hope you 
will go on loving them. We are going to have 
a fine Christmas as you will see.” 

Then they talked over the hospital days and 
poor little Arthur, and presently Chan went to 
bed in his room, and Mr. Mann in the other. Yes, 
it would be very nice, and he was quite reconciled 
to leaving the little old red house. 

It was a nice day, and the big boy and the little 
boy did have a jolly time shopping. Suits all the 
way through and stylish shoes and a box of white 
silk neckties. And Chan must have a handsome, 
light gray suit 

“ But mine is so nice,” he protested. “ Mother’s 
so careful of it, and I only wear it on Sundays 
and when I come here. It seems as if — as if there 
was going to be a great party.” 

“ There is, a Christmas party. And now you 
must choose some toys. What would Tip like?” 

There were so many splendid things. He went 
from one to another. But the train of cars with 


3 o6 THE CHILDREN IN THE 

the engine and the man at the helm, and the 
stoker with his shovel, and the brakeman standing 
on the platform took his fancy altogether, only 
he was afraid it would cost too much. 

“ Santa Claus has a long purse,” laughed Mr. 
Mann. 

“ But I know Linn would like books best, be- 
cause he was wishing he had some like mine. 
And you see if I take mine away he can’t read 
them.” 

So books it was. Then they had luncheon, and 
afterward went to the office for Mr. Mann to look 
over his mail. There was a foreign one with a 
Russian stamp. 

“ Chan,” he exclaimed, “ I must get you a book 
for postage stamps. I have some quite rare for- 
eign ones, ” and he cut around this and laid it in a 
small box. How odd a letter should come from 
St. Petersburg. He cut open the end — glanced 
down the page to the signature “ Howard 
Gwynne.” 

It concerned Chan. But then the boy was his. 
He would never leave him for any other friend. 

It was certainly complimentary to the child. 
Mr. Gwynne recalled himself to Mr. Mann’s mind 
by the interest he had taken in Chandler Firth’s 
unusual musical ability. He had intended to be 


LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 307 

back by the beginning of the new year, but it 
would be April instead. Would Mr. Mann keep 
watch over the child and see that he was well 
cared for physically, and if his parents were in 
poor circumstances, as he believed he had heard, 
he would cheerfully advance any sum to keep him 
in good condition, as he was most anxious to see 
him again, and he referred him to his banker. 
The child was too promising to be allowed to slip 
out of sight. 

Chan was looking over some curious little dies, 
and did not remark the eyes turned upon him with 
such tenderness. “ You are my little lad,” Mr. 
Mann whispered to himself, “ and it isn’t at all 
likely you will have to go round the world singing 
for a living. I shall have the best right ” 

Still Mr. Gwynne must have thought him some- 
thing unusual to take all that interest in him. 

He put the note into a private drawer, and looked 
over the others. Then after a talk with Mr. Ross 
he said: 

“ Come, Chan, now for the hospital and Nurse 
Jane.” 

The child’s eyes were alight with the expected 
pleasure. 

It looked strange and yet curiously familiar, 
like the remembrance of- a dream, as Chandler 


308 THE CHILDREN IN THE 

Firth went through the wide hall. Dr. Richards 
was not in, but the surgeon came to take a look 
at his patient so fair and rosy and straight now. 
And here were the matron and the nurses and the 
sun parlor and the little ones, some who would 
never be any better, and some who would be dis- 
charged in a few weeks, and dear Nurse Jane who 
took both his hands in hers and kissed him. 

“ Why, you have grown,” she exclaimed, “ and 
how well you look! I’m glad to see you again, 
for we really did miss you. I suppose you had 
your legacy all right. Mr. Collamore came here, 
and he was quite touched with your attention to 
Arthur and the will which pleased the poor dying 
boy so much.” 

“ Oh, the books were beautiful,” returned Chan, 
“ and he sent me Arthur’s pretty gold watch, and 
wrote such a sweet letter that mother and Rilla 
and I cried over it.” 

“ I liked him better than I supposed I should, 
and Arthur was much better off here than left at 
home. Wasn’t your mother surprised and 
happy ? ” 

“ She just was. They were all so glad. I’m 
going to school now, and it’s a good long walk, 
but I don’t get a bit tired. You were all so kind 
to me.” 


LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 309 

“ And you were such a lovely patient.” 

He glanced up with smiling eyes. 

Here was the little bed where he had lain in 
the plaster cast and been fed like a baby. There 
was a bigger boy in it whose head was held in a 
sort of a frame and whose face wore a most dis- 
tressed expression, not even lighting up at the 
nurse’s tender tones. And just over there little 
Arthur had taken his journey from pain and hope- 
lessness to the better country, where the glorified 
body would be straight and perfect. It all seemed 
like a pathetic dream, but he was glad he had 
come, and had seen dear Nurse Jane. 

Then to the train and home again. 

“ It’s been a splendid day, only it doesn’t seem 
as if you ought to have bought me so much, and 
all the pleasure and the luncheon ” 

“ Well, you are my little boy. The first little 
boy I ever owned, at least, I own as much as half 
of you,” laughingly. “ And you can tell them 
about the hospital and the Christmas sights in the 
stores and how your room looks, but the other will 
be our Christmas secret.” 

“ And doesn’t mother know ” 

Mr. Mann flushed. “ Yes. You know I had 
to ask her first. But we don’t want the children 
to get it whispered about. Why, it’s only five 


3 io THE CHILDREN IN THE 

days now/’ and a happy light went over his face 
as if the pleasure to him was going to be great 
indeed. Chan felt as if there was something he 
did not quite understand, but he was going to keep 
his part of the secret loyally. 

So they said good-by. Dan would take the little 
boy over home. 

The neighbors wondered at the many boxes and 
packages they watched going into the Mann house. 

Mrs. Greer, who lived on the lower side, ran in 
to Mrs. Chedister’s. 

“ What do you suppose is going on? ” she asked 
in a sort of fever heat. “ Can it be that Mr. 
Mann is planning to be married, yet it does seem 
like it. I wonder if it is to his housekeeper. 
She’s a very nice-appearing person, but it would 
make it quite awkward. Of course we are not 
expected to be on calling terms with house- 
keepers.” 

“ It is embarrassing when a man does that, and 
I think it a very ill-judged step. The woman 
hasn’t any real social position. It seems to me 
Mr. Mann might look higher. He has a nice 
business standing and is a man of means, and the 
men like him, and he doesn’t seem afraid of spend- 
ing his money.” 

“ That’s a beautiful team of his/* 


LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 31 1 

“ Yes. Now if we kept a man I’d put him 
up to finding out something by that Dan. But 
I suppose we’ll learn by and by. Only one 
wouldn’t know just how to receive the new Mrs. 
Mann.” 

So they gossiped up and down the avenue. 

Over at the little red house they talked about 
Christmas. It seemed to Marigold that her 
mother acted quite indifferent. They had very 
little money, to be sure, for she had not been 
doing much. She went over to Mrs. Townsend’s 
on Monday and helped make mince pies and put 
up curtains, and do various odds and ends as they 
were going to have a Christmas eve party for the 
young folks. Marigold made over Laurel’s rag 
doll, put in blue eyes and black eyebrows, and 
begged a little red ink for the lips. She and Rilla 
had been knitting the twins new hoods. Prim 
made a picture-book, cutting flowers out of old 
garden calendars her father had laid away, and 
pasting them into an old blank-book. 

“ Oh dear, if we could only have a real rich 
Christmas for once,” and she sighed. “ Mother, 
aren’t you going to make anything ?” 

“ I’m going to the store to-morrow to get a 
few things. Oh, yes, I’ll make some crullers ” 

“ And gingerbread men ! It wouldn’t be Christ- 


312 THE CHILDREN IN THE 

mas without them. We’ll hang up our stockings 
anyhow. And maybe ” 

She didn’t hardly dare let the “ maybe ” fly. 
If she had she would have said, “ Maybe Mr. 
Mann will bring us something,” but she thought 
her mother acted rather queer when his name was 
mentioned. 

Amaryllis was making various little things. 
New white aprons for the twins out of some old 
white dimity she had found in the rummage heap. 
If she could have spent a little money. Well, they 
would go to the Sunday-school room on Christmas 
afternoon and get a cornucopia of candy, an 
orange, and a book. That would be something. 

Chan was very quiet, too, somehow. But then 
the children were in school all day and stopped 
coming home to have a little fun. So there was 
only the evening. School was dismissed Tuesday 
afternoon, and they could have all day Wednesday. 

“If Dan would come and take us out in the 
big sleigh wouldn’t it be splendid ! ” cried Primrose, 
and they all gave a long, deep sigh. 

Mother came home with quite a big parcel, 
and of course no one would peep into it. Then 
she made crullers and a hot johnny-cake for sup- 
per, and before they were through Linn came in 
whistling. 


LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 313 

“ Why, Linn, what sent you home? To-morrow 
isn’t Christmas ! ” said Rilla. 

“ It’s first cousin to it, though.” Then he looked 
at his mother and laughed. She flushed up, and 
then rose and went to the stove as something there 
needed her. 

“ And I have a Santa Claus dollar,” went on 
Linn. “ I think it is a real Santa Claus when it 
is something you don’t expect. And it was funny, 
but Mr. Beers always says on Saturday, ‘ Now 
you’ll be down bright and early Monday morning,’ 
and he never said a word about Friday. But he 
did say, ‘ Linn, you’ve been a good, faithful boy 
and I wish you the best Christmas you ever had.’ 
Mother, you don’t think he means to let me go, do 
you? I’ve been doing my very best. You had a 
long talk with him,” and the boy’s bright face was 
very anxious. 

“ No, Linn, dear. He said to me you gave good 
satisfaction and he should be very sorry to have 
you go.” 

“ Then I’m not going. You may bet your bot- 
tom dollar on that.” 

“ Come and have some supper.” 

“ They stuffed me down there. A chunk of 
raisin cake, lickin’ good, too, two doughnuts, and 
a great piece of mince pie. Next Christmas I 


3 14 THE CHILDREN IN THE 

mean to be rich enough to have mince pies — and 
a turkey.” 

“ May I be there, here, or wherever it is to 
share them,” appended Marigold. 

It was enough like other nights, except Linn’s 
being home, yet there seemed something different 
in the atmosphere. The twins were put to bed, 
Lai begging that her stocking should be hung up. 
Tip got his arms around Chandler and insisted 
upon hearing over again the wonderful things that 
were in the New York stores. Great stuffed ani- 
mals, cats that could mew, dogs that could bark, 
sheep that could ba-a, splendid drums and curious 
toys and such piles of candies. Linn dropped 
down on the old lounge and went fast asleep. 

Mrs. Firth lighted a lamp, put a shawl around 
her, and went upstairs. There were some things 
she wanted to look over. She opened the old 
chest that had been grandmother’s. Her wedding 
dress of youth, a plain, simple muslin, was in it. 
She had meant next summer to make it over for 
Rilla. There was a hand-wrought lace shawl that 
her own mother had worked, and some pieces of 
finery she had never needed for herself. Papers, 
various things she had tucked away, and a pair 
of silk stockings, cream color now. She would 
wear them on Christmas day. Then she dropped 


LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 315 

down in a little huddle and cried. Was it true 
some one was going to take her and the eight 
children, and that she was to have no more anxiety, 
no more struggles with poverty, and be happy, be 
loved! It did not seem true. Wouldn’t some- 
thing happen! One always asks it on the eve of 
a great joy. She had been loved before, but not 
in this fashion. Mr. Firth had been twelve years 
older, and though she and Mr. Mann had come to 
middle life, it seemed like a new youth to her. 

She packed a few things into a basket, and 
then came downstairs. Oh, how good the warmth 
felt ! She held her hands over the cheering stove. 

“ Momsey, you look blue and cold, and as if 
you had been crying. What made you stay so 
long up in that cold garret ? ” asked Marigold. 

“ Why, you sleep up there all night.” Her heart 
leaped at the thought of the comfort they were 
going to have. 

“Well, that’s different. We have the good 
warm brick, and we just cuddle down in the 
blankets and go to sleep before you can say * Jack 
Robinson.’ ” 

“ Why do you have to say ‘ Jack Robinson ’ ? ” 
inquired Tip sleepily. 

“ Well — I don’t know, unless he carries about 
a bag of sleepy powder. Tip, do go to bed.” 


316 THE CHILDREN IN THE 

Chan convoyed him into the bedroom, and soon 
had him tucked in. Then he came back and placed 
one small arm about his mother’s waist, and whis- 
pered, “ I know. He told me we were to go over 
for Christmas.” 

She colored as she bent and kissed him. There 
was no need of keeping part of the secret any 
longer. The other he must tell himself. 

“Children,” — there were only five now, the 
others were in bed — “ children, we are all go- 
ing over to Grafton to-morrow to spend our 
Christmas ” 

“ Oh, mother ! ” and Marigold sprang up and 
gave her a tremendous hug that nearly pushed her 
over. “ Is that what’s made you so sort of queer 
and as if you didn’t take much interest in fixing 
anything? We have been talking about it, and 
somehow it seemed as if it would be a rather 
doleful Christmas. Oh, I’m so glad! I could 
hop around on one foot.” 

With that she caught Prim, and they pirouetted 
round the room as if they were born ballet dancers. 

“ It’s so delightful,” said Amaryllis sedately. 
“ Mother, doesn’t Mr. Mann think of the nicest 
things ? ” 

“ That’s why I have a holiday to-morrow, I 
s’pose.” Linn had been wondering all the time. 


LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 317 

“ And Mr. Beers was so pleasant about it I thought 
he couldn’t mean to discharge me. Hurray ! It’ll 
beat Thanksgiving I bet a cow ! ” 

“ And if you lose you haven’t any cow to pay 
with,” appended Chan. 

“ Children, you must all go to bed now. It’s 
getting late. Yes, it was — it was splendid,” she 
could think of no other word without betraying 
herself, “ splendid in him to ask us to share his 
Christmas when we had so little of our own. And 
I hope you will all be grateful and try your best, 
for it seems as if Heaven had sent us its choicest 
blessing.” 

Then she kissed them and hurried them off lest 
she should give way to the emotions that surged 
within her. 


CHAPTER XVIII 


A WEDDING AND CHRISTMAS 

It was a glorious winter morning. The sun 
came up out of a sea of iridescent light and pres- 
ently settled to a flawless blue. There was still 
sleighing, it took only a little snow to renew it in 
country places. The older children did up the 
chores. Linn brought in two armfuls of wood 
and piled it up behind the stove so that it would 
get thoroughly dry. Then he fed the chickens and 
said laughingly — 

“ Why, it seems like old times. But how will 
they manage these two days ? ” 

“ Oh, some one will have to come over and see 
to them.” 

“ Will we come home to-morrow night, think? ” 

“ Why ” His mother made a sudden 

errand into the bedroom to hide her embarrass- 
ment. 

Circumstances had favored secrecy and saved 
Mrs. Firth from curious questioning. The road 
from Grafton ran straight along until it met the 

318 


THE LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 319 

old north road. That was all big farms, though 
it led down to the village. This little sort of back 
lane took in the rear of them. With the exception 
of the little old red house there was no other for 
about half a mile and that was Squire Briggs’s. 
After that the real village began, mostly on the 
other side, where cottages were closer together. 
Then the matter had been so sudden and strange 
to her. She had felt that she ought to confide 
in Mrs. Burnham, but Mr. Mann had said, “ Leave 
that to me. I’ll settle it all right.” He was not 
going to have her criticised or commented upon. 

The children put on their best clothes. 

“ Mother, I don’t know what we would have 
done this winter without old Aunt Hitty’s bundle,” 
said thoughtful Amaryllis. “ And it’s funny but 
we didn’t like it much at first. You can do a 
great many things when you take time to consider. 
If necessity is the mother of invention, I think 
poverty must be the father.” 

“ Yes,” with a smiling nod. 

“ There’s the sleigh — oh, only the little sleigh ! ” 

Mr. Mann sprang out and blanketed Bonnie, 
then marched into the house with a merry general 
greeting, and walked straight over to Mrs. Firth, 
taking her in his arms and kissing her dozens of 
times while the children stood in astonishment. 


320 THE CHILDREN IN THE 

Then he turned her around facing them, but she 
did not look up. 

He was so bright and fresh, clean-shaven, and 
immaculate in attire, and his face fairly shone 
with joyous satisfaction, the dimple deeper than 
ever. 

“ Children,” and his voice seemed richer and 
tenderer, “ I have asked your mother to marry 
me, and she has consented. I wanted Chan at 
first and bargained for him, then on Thanksgiving 
I found I wanted you all and your mother in the 
bargain. So you are all to come over, and this 
afternoon your mother is going to give me herself 
and all of you children until you are grown men 
and women. I am to be your father, and my 
home is to be yours. We are to love each other, 
to share whatever comes, to make each other as 
happy as we can for her dear sake.” 

There was a curious silence. It was not possi- 
ble to take it in at a moment. But Amaryllis, who 
was standing nearest, suddenly put out both hands 
and clasped his one free arm. 

“ Oh,” she cried, “ I think you are the best and 
sweetest and dearest man, better than any one in 
a story book because you are real. And there's 
so many of us ” 

The spell was broken. They swarmed around 


LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 321 

him like bees and he was kissing brows and rosy 
cheeks and sweet lips. 

“ Oh, was this what you meant ? ” said Chan 
in a breathless sort of voice. 

“ We’ve wished we had a father just like you,” 
began Primrose with winning frankness. “ When 
we read the Sunday-school books, and there’s some 
one nice in them, we say, ‘ Oh, that’s like Mr. 
Mann, isn’t it? ’ There isn’t many of the fathers 
that we like all the way through, but we plan 
about it and imagine, and have a nicer house than 
this, but we never thought of anything quite like 
yours, and oh, I’m so glad I can’t hardly hold in. 
I want to run and shout.” 

“ Maybe you won’t like me all the way through.” 

There was such a funny expression in his face, 
as if he were trying to look severe and couldn’t, 
and a quiver of mirth all around his mouth. 

“ Oh, you’ll have to laugh,” cried Marigold. 
“ No one ever could be much cross with a dimple 
like that in his cheek. We’re not always good, 
but we’ll try. And you’re sure you’re in dead 
earnest and not funning in any way? But there’s 
such a lot of us to have ! ” 

“ And a big house to put you in. No, my 
child, we are to have and to hold as long as 
God spares us and to make each other happy. I 


322 THE CHILDREN IN THE 

shall want a good deal of love, and I have ever 
so much to give you ” 

“ How do people get married?” inquired Tip. 
“ What does the minister say ? ” 

“ You’ll see in good time — about the middle of 
the afternoon.” 

“ And don’t we come back to this old house 
any more? What are the chickens going to do, 
and the cat? ” 

“ Well — they’ll have to come over too.” 

Tip’s face was full of questioning mystery. 
Neither could Rhoda understand, but Lai con- 
tentedly hugged her doll and told her they were 
going to the man’s house and have dinner. 

Linn had come around to his mother’s side and 
pulled her head down to whisper. 

“ I’m so glad, mother dear. And now you 
won’t have to work so hard, and it’ll be so lovely 
over there, and you won’t have to give up Chan. 
Seems somehow strange and beautiful, like a little 
bit out of heaven. Don’t you think God sent us 
Mr. Mann because he knew how hard it was for 
you, and then just at Christmas times, too, when 
the whole world gets glad? ” 

“ Yes, dear,” and they both kissed amid tears of 
joy and gratitude. 

“ Now, children,” as Dan drove up with the 


LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 323 

big sleigh, “ you’re all going to be packed in like 
sardines, and I am to bring your mother,” and he 
unclasped the little arms that were round his legs 
and body. “ Get your wraps and hoods.” 

Mrs. Firth helped bundle them up. 

“ Oh, mother, you’ll surely come ! ” cried Prim- 
rose. 

“ Prim, if you doubt my word again I’ll shut 
you up in a dark closet and you shall not have any 
dinner,” declared her prospective father, and saucy 
Prim laughed and put a kiss in the dimple. 

Mrs. Firth looked at her lover. “ Oh,” and her 
voice quivered, “ I wonder if you will ever be 
sorry that you took us all. Sometimes children 
do not turn out well.” 

“ Then you will have me to share the sorrow 
and trouble. And I do believe a man’s authority 
strengthens and tides over dangerous places. But 
we won’t borrow trouble. We will have a few 
happy, merry years while they are young. And 
I shall want a great deal of love to make up for 
my old starved life. You’ve had the love, you 

jj 

see. 

Could she give him any adequate return? Her 
life seemed so poor and simple. 

“ We have hardly been lovers,” he said, “ so 
we shall have to be lovers all the rest of our lives.” 


3 2 4 THE CHILDREN IN THE 

As for the children they felt as if they had 
been whisked out of the old orbit and were flying 
through space like a comet. 

“ But you knew, didn’t you, Chan ? ” said Ama- 
ryllis. 

“ No, not all of it. He told me about coming 
to keep our Christmas, and I had a feeling that 
then I’d be expected to stay. And I’ve such a 
splendid room and fine bookcase — oh, I’m afraid 
he’s given me too much.” 

“ But, you see,” returned Linn, “ he’s going to 
have mother, and she’s worth the whole lot of 
us.” 

“ She won’t be quite the same to us.” 

“ Mothers don’t forget,” said Linn stoutly. 
“ And now she won’t have to go out sewing and 
fixing up people’s houses, and — Golly! she’ll be a 
real lady! And she won’t come home all tired 
out. And he’ll buy her beautiful clothes as he 
does Chan. And I know she’ll love us.” 

“ It’s queer anyhow,” piped in Marigold. “ But 
he’s just tip-top. I’ve liked him ever since that 
first day. But, Dan, how will you get along 
with such a lot of young ones for good and 
all?” 

“ I’m like the boss, I take to children. I meant 
to have some of my own, but that pralasis set in 


LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 325 

and left my poor wife like a log. I guess there 
won’t be any trouble,” and Dan chuckled. 

The neighbors watched the sleigh release its 
living freight. Eight children again. But Christ- 
mas didn’t last forever. 

Mrs. Alden took off their wrappings and ushered 
them into the parlor. It had been made fragrant 
with greens and some beautiful flowers, great roses 
such as one seldom saw in the winter. 

“ Why, it looks ’most like a church. Oh, do 
you suppose they will be married here? I never 
saw any one married.” 

“ I did once,” said Amaryllis, “ at the parsonage. 
But the lady had her hat and cloak on.” 

“ Do you think I might take them up to my 
room ? ” Chan asked Mrs. Alden. 

“ Oh, yes. But do not go into any of the 
other rooms.” 

“ That’s queer,” remarked Marigold. “ We 
have been in all of them.” 

There were “ ohs ” and “ ahs ” in almost every 
key. For a moment or two Linn envied his 
brother. There were the beautiful books ranged 
on their shelf. The desk was fitted up with need- 
ful articles and on one of the brackets was a vase 
of flowers. On a stand in Mr. Mann’s room there 
was a magnificent bunch. A strange feeling per- 


326 THE CHILDREN IN THE 

vaded them, all save the twins, and Laurel dis- 
covered that she had left dolly behind and began 
to cry. 

“ Let’s go downstairs and watch for mother,” 
said Amaryllis. “ Dan will go back and get 
dolly, though I don’t think she’s fine enough for 
a house full of flowers like this. Lai, dear, let 
me show you some pictures. Oh, there they 
come ! ” 

It seemed to them as if they must have been 
separated from their mother a whole day instead 
of an hour. And presently Dan came with some 
one else, Mr. and Mrs. Ross, and then they were 
seized with an accession of bashfulness, but 
luncheon soon obviated that. 

Well, they were very passable children, Mrs. 
Ross admitted to herself. Chan and Marigold 
and the smaller twin were really pretty, Linn was 
a manly little fellow, and none of them positively 
plain. Not rough or uncouth either, and their 
mother was modest and sweet if she hadn’t Mrs. 
Alden’s style. 

After that they -were led upstairs into one of 
the rooms that had been closed and their breath 
fairly taken away with a pile of finery on the bed. 
Then the girls were metamorphosed from country 
children to fairies, and it was only simple white 


LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 327 

frocks and sashes and white stockings and shoes. 
Their mother kissed them and told them to go 
down into the library and be quiet and good chil- 
dren. 

It was positively funny the way they stared at 
each other in breathless silence. Even Primrose 
was awed. Then the boys came down. 

“ Oh, Linn, you look quite as nice and pretty 
as Chan ! Clothes do make a difference ! ” and 
Prim was an immense point of admiration. 

“ And just look at me,” said Tip, stretching up 
his tallest. 

There were some guests in the parlor. Mr. 
Mann brought them through. 

“ Here are my children,” he said laughingly. 

They were Mr. and Mrs. Burnham and Katy, 
who stared at them in surprise, and only knew 
Chan. 

“ Not many men begin this way,” returned the 
minister. “ I hardly know which side is to be 
congratulated.” 

“ Both,” was the host’s answer. 

“ Mr. Mann ” and he left the room. 

“ It was a wonderful surprise when Mr. Mann 
came yesterday and told us,” said Mrs. Burnham 
to Amaryllis. “ It’s a perfect romance, and your 
mother deserves the best of fortune, she’s been so 


328 THE CHILDREN IN THE 

devoted to you all. Only — I hope you won’t be 
too much lifted up by sudden prosperity.” 

“Lifted up?” Amaryllis did not quite under- 
stand. In fact in her simple way she had only 
taken in the good fortune for her mother and a 
new father for them. That they would be set 
above many of the Denby folk who had looked 
down upon them with a sort of pity never oc- 
curred to the inexperienced child. 

Mrs. Alden came to the door in a pretty, light, 
silk gown, and, beckoning them out, formed them 
in a half-circle on each side of the chimney-piece, 
holding little Lai’s hand herself. The others stood 
just back of the children. And then two people 
came through, Mr. Mann in white vest and tie, 
and a beautiful white figure in a clinging gown 
and train with white flowers in her dark hair, and 
as he turned her around, the children really saw 
“ the beautifullest mother ” as they had never seen 
her before. She looked so sweet and girlish, as if 
the beauty of really heroic life had suddenly blos- 
somed out in her face, the seal of the soul taking 
its reward. He was glad to have her children see 
her this way. It would be something to remem- 
ber when they were men and women. 

Then there was a pleasant confusion of voices, 
a moving about, the children were kissed by their 


LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 329 

mother and their new father, little laughing sounds, 
and then Mrs. Burnham sat down to the piano and 
played what she could remember of the wedding 
march. After that they went out to the wedding 
feast, where the table was fragrant with flowers, 
with the wedding-cake in the middle. The chil- 
dren were quiet from very surprise, but the 
elders made it cheerful, graciously assisted by the 
host. 

Mr. and Mrs. Ross were taken to their train 
to go on their Christmas journey. 

“ It was really a beautiful wedding,” she said, 
“ and would have graced a grander occasion. 
Mrs. Firth — Mrs. Mann, I mean,” laughing, “ is 
certainly much more ladylike than one would ex- 
pect, and the children might have stepped out of 
a story book. No wonder he is proud of them. 
But — eight of them ! ” 

They kept Mr. and Mrs. Burnham a while 
longer, for Katy was just beginning to feel at 
home with the children. 

“ She must come over and see them,” said Mrs. 
Mann. “ We can send for her almost any time. 
I should think she would get lonely.” 

“ She does, I know. I don’t like her to go to 
school with so many rough children, but being al- 
ways with grown folks is not good for a child 


330 THE CHILDREN IN THE 

nor natural. Dear me, we shall miss you so 
much, but I do rejoice in your good fortune.” 

“ It seems like a dream.” Bessie gave a soft 
little laugh. “ I expect Friday morning I shall 
think I ought to go over to the old house and 
take up the old life, as if I was not in quite the 
right place.” 

After the guests went away they retired to the 
library. Lide came in and lighted a fire just for 
the pleasure of the blaze. 

“ Oh, Mr. Mann, it was just beautiful!” said 
Marigold with a joyous sigh, if such a thing can 
be. 

“ Mr. Mann ! ” He tried to look severe, but 
the big dimple gave it away. “ Now we are going 
to begin at once. I shall insist upon all the honors 
of a large family and be called ‘ Father.’ I shall 
try to be the best father that I can, and if you do 
not love me a good deal I shall be broken-hearted. 
And the first one that calls me Mr. Mann — well, 
I don’t know what will be done to her or him. I 
think they will have to go over to the little old 
house and live alone.” 

“ Oh, yes, I know,” exclaimed Marigold 
brightly. “ That will be the prison when we’re 
very, very bad. We are sometimes.” 

“ Capital,” and he laughed. 


LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 331 

They seemed to get settled presently. Linn 
and Amaryllis were in the front room looking over 
a portfolio of fine engravings and photographs of 
the beautiful scenery of America. Marigold and 
Prim were piecing together a dissecting map on 
the floor. Rhoda was building a house of domi- 
noes. Tip sat on a taboret studying the fire. 
Mr. Mann was in the big chair with Chan perched 
on one arm and leaning his face down on the broad 
shoulder. It was not as gay as Thanksgiving had 
been, perhaps they all felt that something mys- 
terious had happened to them. 

Mrs. Mann sat beside her husband, and Laurel 
had crawled up into her lap to be comforted for 
the forgotten dolly. It certainly was a picture of 
household content, and Adonijah Mann felt thor- 
oughly happy. 

“ I can’t make it out,” and Tip’s face was 
creased in several lines, “ just why people are 
married. Did the minister give mother to you? 
And she didn’t belong to him, she belonged to us.” 

Mr. Mann roused from a reverie with his wife’s 
hand in his. Then he gave a short laugh. 

“ Tip, there was a place in the ceremony where 
Mr. Burnham said, ‘ If any one had any objection 
he should declare it then, or ever afterward hold 
his peace.’ You’ve lost your chance.” 


332 THE CHILDREN IN THE 

“ But I can’t understand ” 

“ My little lad, she gave herself to me first. 
And what Mr. Burnham said was the custom and 
the law of the land. Everything, you’ll find, is 
governed by some law. But it will be a long 
while before you need bother about marriage. 
You are not homesick already and wanting to go 
back ? ” 

“ No-o,” in a rather doubtful tone. “ This place 
is nicer, and you’ve so many beautiful things, and 
the horses and sleighs, and turkey for dinner all 
the time, and such splendid cake with sugar on 
the top ” 

“ Oh, Tip! ” and his mother’s face was scarlet. 

“ I’ll stay here while you do ” 

“ And I’d like to know whether we will all 
have to change our names like mother,” inquired 
Marigold, looking up suddenly. 

Mr. Mann considered. “ No,” he answered 
presently. “ I think your name the prettiest, 
much prettier for girls.” 

“ Marigold Mann ! Well, that would sound 
funny. And Primrose Mann ! ” laughing. 

“ Yes, your name is much to be preferred.” 

“ I want my dolly,” piped a sleepy voice. “ And 
I want to go in my trundle-bed. My eyes won’t 
stay open.” 


LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 333 

“ Family cares begin,” and Bessy Mann looked 
at her husband in a humorous fashion. “ Come, 
Rhoda, you must go.” 

“ I can’t leave my house. And I’m not sleepy,” 
in a resolute tone. 

“ Rhoda!” 

“ And I am afraid to go and sleep in a strange 
place,” in a decisive manner. 

“ Perhaps Dan had better take you over to the 
old house.” Bessy drew a sort of compressed 
breath, she deprecated a struggle. And Rhoda 
could be very willful. 

Mr. Mann rose quietly and swooped down on 
the child, gathering her in his arms, and kissing 
the protesting lips, half squeezing the breath out 
of her as he carried her upstairs. Her mother 
followed with Laurel. 

“ Family cares are coming soon,” she said with 
a deprecating smile. “ Thank you. I can man- 
age them now.” 

“ Rhoda, any little girl that cries cannot have 
her stocking hung up.” 

Rhoda had really been too much startled to cry 
by the summary treatment. She looked at him 
now with wide open eyes a little defiant. 

“ Say good-night to father.” 

“ I tan’t,” murmured Lai. “ I so s’eepy.” 


334 THE CHILDREN IN THE 

So he kissed them both and left them to their 
mother. 

Marigold was tired of puzzling over the map. 
She picked up the pieces and the dominoes, and 
laid them on the table. Then she said, “ I wonder 
if rich people hang up stockings. Teacher said 
there wasn’t any Santa Claus, just as if we didn’t 
know when we began to learn about things. But 
it’s the most splendid make-believe I know of.” 

“ What is ? ” asked Mr. Mann. Then he drew 
his chair up nearer, took Chan on one knee, and 
lifted Tip to the other. 

“ Why — Santa Claus. And can we hang up 
some stockings ? ” 

“ Of course you can. That’s half the fun of 
Christmas.” 

“ I’m so glad you like fun,” and Prim squeezed 
the arm nearer her. 

“ And I hope we shall have lots of it. I didn’t 
have much when I was a little boy. But then I 
didn’t have any mother.” 

“ And mothers are such lovely things,” said 
Chan. “ Better than anything in the wide world.” 

Mr. Mann smiled down into the little face. 

Mother came down smiling as if the trouble 
hadn’t been very serious. She glanced into the 
other room. 


LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 335 

“ Come in here, Linn and Rilla.” They seemed 
somehow rather shut out. 

“ We've been having a nice time over the pic- 
tures,” explained Amaryllis. “ What beautiful 
places there are in the world. How delightful it 
would be to see them. Linn and I have been 
planning when we are quite grown up to — to do 
something ” 

“ We may not wait so long as that,” said their 
new father. “ I've never been about much only 
on business journeys.” 

“ I want to go to Niagara,” announced Mari- 
gold. 

“ Linn, where will you go ? ” The boy had 
seemed very quiet this evening. 

“ Oh, to Washington first of all.” 

“ But New York is splendid!” interposed 
Chan. 

“ Oh, there are so many places,” sighed Prim. 

They fell into an eager talk then until their 
mother said if they wanted any stockings hung 
up it was time to go to bed. 

The three girls decided to sleep together, and 
Mr. Mann explained to Linn that presently he was 
to have a nice room of his own. 

“ We shall fill up the whole house,” their mother 
said. 


336 THE CHILDREN IN THE 

“ That was just what I wanted,” returned the 
new father. 

“ Where will the stockings be hung?” asked 
Prim. 

“ Just here. We will put a line across. 
The fire will soon be out and Santa Claus 
will have a fair chance to come down the chim- 
ney.” 

Mr. Mann said it very gravely, but they all 
laughed as they said good-night. 

“ I’m afraid,” Bessy began, leaning on her hus- 
band’s breast, “ that Linn is a little bit jealous of 
all the nice things that have come to Chandler. 
Maybe it would be better to let him go back to 
the store this winter. Mr. Beers was very loath 
to give him up. They will be so much care for 
you.” 

“ Don’t you think I am big enough to shoulder 
the care? It hasn’t turned you old nor gray. 
Why, I feel ten years younger than I did a month 
ago. I’m beginning life all over again/’ 

Then they arranged the stockings, eight steps 
in a row. After that the house lapsed into quiet. 
But before daylight Mr. Mann was up watching 
out. And suddenly there was a rush and a shout. 
“ Merry Christmas ! ” laughed their new father 
on the landing. “ Make it as merry as you can. 


4 



“Merry Christmas!” laughed their new father. — Page 336, 














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LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 337 

But wait till they all come down before you empty 
your stockings.” 

They were stuffed full, that they saw. And a 
pile of things on the mantel covered with flowered 
crepe paper. But they didn’t have to wait long. 
The girls were not in wedding gear now, but they 
looked bright and rosy. 

In the stockings was the Christmas they might 
have had in the old house. An apple, an orange, 
some crullers, peanuts, and candy, and the ginger- 
bread man with his currant eyes and his red mouth 
peeping out from the top. After all it was the 
old fun and took the strangeness off the new home. 
Then the piles on the mantel were handed down. 
Linn had some fine books and a little white box 
in which lay a watch, nice if not so costly as 
Chan’s. Rilla had a beautiful new gown and a 
necklace and locket. Marigold, the same. Prim, 
a great variety. Tip, the steam engine and train 
of cars that you wound up and let run across the 
floor. Rhoda, a set of pretty dishes big enough 
for a real tea-party, and Laurel, a beautiful 
doll. 

For a while no one could have heard himself 
talk. Mr. Mann only laughed. Bessy and Mrs. 
Alden looked on helplessly, and it seemed as if 
there might be twenty children instead of eight. 


33B THE CHILDREN IN THE 

Suddenly a wail startled them. 

“ Oh, Tip ! ” exclaimed his mother in despair. 
“ What is the matter ? You have everything heart 
can wish, what is there to cry for ? ” 

“ I ain’t crying for myself!” he flung out in- 
dignantly. “ I’m crying for the poor little old 
house that’s cold and lonesome and no stockings 
hanging up and no children running round and 
wishing ‘ Merry Christmas,’ and laughing and 
making all ring again with fun. And if you were 
the poor old house with no fire to warm you, and 
no one to make you glad and happy you’d cry 
too.” 

“ Oh, Tip ! ” Mr. Mann caught him in his arms. 
“ I’ve heard of people being all heart. See here, 
Dan shall take you over, and you may kindle up 
a fire and comfort the old house for the loss of 
all that were so dear.” 

Prim caught the little leg and the hand that 
held it. 

“ No one shall scold you when you cry, Tip, 
for if it hadn’t been for you nothing would have 
happened to us. Don’t you remember the after- 
noon we’d been playing in the dirt and were tired, 
and we sat down on the stoop and you said, ‘ Let’s 
cry ’cause mother’s gone away,’ and we cried and 
cried, and Mr. Mann came along ” 


LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 339 

Mr. Mann held up his hand and gave an omi- 
nous shake of the head. 

“ Well, you weren’t our father then, you were 
Mr. Mann,” continued Prim in no wise abashed. 
“ And you stopped and asked us what we were 
crying about. And if it hadn’t been for Tip we 
wouldn’t have cried, and you wouldn’t have found 
us, and we’d never had this supersplendatious 
Christmas nor any new father. And how we 
looked! Goldie hustled us into the house to get 
washed ” 

“ Yes, I was so ashamed of them,” declared 
Marigold, turning red at the remembrance. 

Mr. Mann laughed and laughed. Like a picture 
it came back to him, the incident that had changed 
so much of his life, given him work and duty and 
a love he had never known before. He kissed 
little Tip with great gladness. 

“If you folks don’t come to breakfast it’ll all 
be spiled ! ” announced big Lide. 

There was not much Christmas keeping at 
Denby except in the way of big family dinners, 
and that interfered with a morning service. But 
in the afternoon there was a small attempt, 
prayers and some Christmas hymns and distribu- 
tion of books. On this afternoon there was quite 


340 THE CHILDREN IN THE 

a concourse. And after the benediction everybody 
crowded up around the minister. 

“ Wasn’t it the most astonishing thing ! ” began 
Mrs. Deacon Silsby. “ I declare you could have 
knocked me down with a feather. What was it 
like ? And they say the man’s rich ! He oughter 
be to take them eight children just as they’re get- 
ting to be the biggest expense. Do tell us all 
about it ! ” 

“ It was a very pretty wedding,” said Mrs. 
Burnham. “ Mr. Mann came over on Tuesday 
and engaged husband. We were dreadfully sur- 
prised and could hardly believe it, but he said they 
had only been engaged three weeks, though he had 
known them since last summer. He sent Chan 
to the hospital, you know. The house is large and 
well furnished, right on the most stylish avenue. 
There was only his business partner and wife, but 
some one had attended to the dressing, and the 
children were a pretty sight. I never saw Bessy 
Firth look so young or so pretty. And Mr. Mann 
seems so proud of them all, and just as happy as 
if he was twenty-five.” 

“ Seems a shame though when there’s so many 
nice girls around wanting husbands that a widow 
with a raft of children should carry off the prize. 
She’s good forty.” 


LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 341 

“ Thirty-eight and he is forty-five, so they are 
well matched. He will have a smart, thrifty, 
pleasant-tempered wife.” 

“ And I say Bessy Firth deserved it all. Think 
how she’s kept all those children together when 
folks thought she ought to put some of them out, 
and they’re quite as good as the common run. 
And she never was complaining how hard her lot 
was and sort of begging for help. She worked 
cheerfully and did you a good day’s work too, and 
she could turn her hand to anything. It’s too 
bad she should have had the twins, but she never 
seemed to think children a hardship. And Mr. 
Beers said that oldest boy was a smart little chap. 
He wanted to keep him the rest of the winter, 
but she said Mr. Mann wasn’t willing. She 
had to tell him of course, and he was clear 
beat.” 

“ Stepfathers are fine in the beginning, but they 
don’t always hold out,” said another. “ And it’s 
my opinion, and I’ve seen a good deal of the 
world, that two or three years from this time some 
of them will be shifting for themselves. Then 
men lose their fortunes. You’re born but you 
ain’t buried, and a good many things may happen 
before you are.” 

“ I don’t think it was just the thing to be so 


342 THE CHILDREN IN THE 

sly about it. We were all her friends, and she 
might have needed a little advice. He must have 
bought her wedding clothes, for I don’t believe 
she had anything. And though I don’t hold much 
to weddin’ gifts, I’d ’a’ sent her something if 
I’d known it.” 

It certainly was a bomb cast into the camp of 
Denby, and gave food for no end of gossip. But 
the fact was unalterable. Bessie Firth with her 
eight children had married a rich man. 

Grafton was mightily exercised as well. Dan 
had to admit the marriage of the boss, and the 
eight children. And when Mr. Mann went down 
to the city early the next week, several of the 
men on the train congratulated him. 

“ You were a pretty brave fellow,” said Mr. 
Upham, “ to shoulder so much responsibility.” 

“ I wanted the children as well as their mother,” 
was the frank reply. 

But when the card club met on the last day 
of the year the playing was decidedly poor, 
though they laid it to the wretched hands they 
held. 

“ To think when Linden Avenue has always 
been kept select and refined,” said Mrs. Greer, 
“ that we should have this raft dumped upon us. 
Denby people are the very commonest order of 


LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 343 

folks, most of them doing their own washing and 
dyeing their old clothes over in the fall. And this 
woman worked round, I heard.” 

“ She taught school before she was married the 
first time.” 

“ Well, it didn’t need much education to teach 
school sixteen or eighteen years ago, and I dare 
say she has forgotten all that. But we do not need 
to take her up. He hasn’t been what you’d call 
a sociable sort of man, though the men seem to 
like him.” 

“ Pity me,” besought Mrs. Chedister. “ There 
is not so much space between our houses, and 
my little girl will have to hear that rough, common 
talk. I’ve been so very particular with her. And 
those children were awful that day last summer. 
It makes me sick at heart. The avenue has been 
so really elegant.” 

“ There ought to be some restrictions on prop- 
erty. No one should be allowed in who has more 
than two children. There are plenty of other 
streets where they can buy or rent.” 

“ But Mr. Mann had none when he came. We 
couldn’t have fenced him out,” remarked one lady 
laughingly. “ Though I detest a neighborhood 
full of children.” 

“ We’ll send them to Coventry and keep them 


344 THE LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE 

there. Let us refrain from the slightest ad- 
vances.” 

“ But suppose they should have the effrontery 
to give a reception.” 

“ That would be horrid. Some of us must 
arrange for a party on that same night.” 

“Capital.” 

“ And if he had only married some nice young 
woman what an acquisition it might have been. 
Lm not sure that widows with families ought to 
be allowed to marry. They’ve had their day. Oh, 
did you ever see such wretched luck! The cards 
seem fairly bewitched ! ” 

“ And we are upset by this horrid occurrence. 
No greater misfortune could have happened.” 

Oh, Adonijah Mann, you little knew what a 
commotion your eight children were stirring up ! 

But both Mr. Mann and the children had a 
faculty for being equal to the occasion, and we 
shall learn all about it in the next volume, which 
will be called “ The Children at Grafton.” 


THE END 



APR g 1 1912 







